


The Lady of Snow and Sorrow

by DespinaOlivera



Category: Sneedronningen | The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen, Wintersun (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Norse Religion & Lore, F/M, Fantasy, Gen, Get, M/M, Scandinavian myths, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-08-30 10:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8530267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DespinaOlivera/pseuds/DespinaOlivera
Summary: This is a modern dark fantasy version of "Snow Queen" fairy-tale featuring my beloved metal band Wintersun. As we know, the Snow Queen is Hel, the Scandinavian goddess of winter and death. She plans to take Wintersun's lead guitarist Jari to serve her forever at her palace of ice, but things go wrong, and Kai the drummer disappears instead. His friends got nothing else to do but start a long and dangerous quest to save him, guided by two ravens - the messengers of Odin. The story is a pure fantasy of mine, so don't take it too close to heart.





	1. Intro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Image credits: Rami von Verg

Jari Mäenpää woke up amidst the long winter night in his Helsinki apartment. Making sure not to disturb Teemu, breathing peacefully by his side, the Wintersun's lead guitarist quietly approached the high window. The blond was feeling strange: an unexplicable dismay was stirring inside his heart, as if something weird was about to happen.

  
A faint light came from the lanterns on the street and the windows on it's opposite side, so Jari could see that the cold glass was almost completely covered with strikingly beautiful ice flowers, perfect as Wintersun's music was. Another day, Jari would smile at the comparison, but his anxiety rose, as though something could be threatening him and Teemu from outside. At night, people don't think and feel the way they do at daytime.

  
Then he heard an unearthly melody that seemed to be produced by the night itself. It resembled much the music he often heard in his dreams and then transformed into songs - the ones that brought the band to it's glory.

  
But this time the music was so clear and physical that Jari could feel the vibration of the invisible guitar strings in the cool air of the room. His heart started beating faster, his eyes were still contemplating the frosty flowers on the glass and the shadows that moved beyond it.  
Soon the anxiety gave way to curiosity, which then was replaced by a pure quiet extasy. Enchanted by the melody which was playing now inside his brain, Jari started humming to the music, forgetting the fear to wake the rhythm guitarist up. Finally, the blond saw a dim silhouette move behind the frozen glass.

  
Gods, what's this?

  
A thought was pulsating intensely in Jari's brain - nobody can be there, as he lives on the third floor, and there are no trees so close to the house... But still, he saw a humanlike shape approach his window from the dark of the night. Trembling, the guitarist stretched his arm towards it, and the magnificent icy flowers crumbled into dust. A translucent female face surrounded by flowing snow-white hair looked at Jari through the glass, devouring Wintersun's front man with its luminous silver eyes.

A ghost. Or some other unhuman creature.

 Jari's heart plunged. For several seconds he was contemplating the strange living thing of extraordinary and yet sad beauty. Then She narrowed her eyes and smiled at him - proudly and possessively.

"Can she enter the room?" Jari asked himself, shivering. He stepped aside and lit an electric lamp on the wall. Angry, the female creature made a grimace, and the right side of its fine, regular face was gone, as if something tore the flesh off the bones. Then She rocketed up and disappeared.

Quite a dreary thing to see. The guitarist inhaled and exhaled loudly, the cold sweat covering him in a heartbeat.

"What's up, Jari?" asked Teemu in a sleepy voice, raising his head from the pillow and shaking his heavy locks off the face.

"Some night inspiration attack, dear" said the older man, his heart still crushing at the ribs, his hands shaking. "Just got an idea for a new song. I must take the guitar and play it now, otherwise I'll forget everything when morning comes."

"It's no way you may do that without me!" exclaimed the younger guitarist with his specific global-warming smile, jumping out of the bed and looking for his slippers. "You'll certainly need the second guitar and a cup of strong coffee."

Jari did not smile back to him, and this was a bit unusual.


	2. The Breakdown

May was sunny and glorious, but the band would not enjoy much of it, as they had planned a series of big concerts the first of which was in a big Russian city of Saint-Petersburg, close to the border with Finland. And there was definitely nothing worse than the frontman's sudden nervous breakdown just before the show. 

Backstage, having already tuned his guitar and dressed for the show, Jari was walking in rounds, like a captured animal in cage, and shivering hard. He felt no control over his own hands and asked his colleagues to cancel the concert, telling them he wouldn't be able to play.

The guys were thunderstruck. Usually, it was Jari who energized the band before the show and helped them to overcome fear.

"Jari, what will we say to all those people out there?" protested Jukka, the bass guitarist. 

"That I have a heart attack... - Jari sad hoarsely. - In fact, I'm very close to it."

The band members clearly saw tears in his eyes.

"What the hell is going on, man? - Kai Hahto, the drummer, put his broad palm onto the lead guitarist's sharp shoulder. - Please, have some whiskey and put yourself together, at last." 

The drummer handed a bulky metallic flask to his friend. The lead guitarist made some big gulps and sat down heavily on the floor. Teemu sat next to Jari and put the older man's head on his lap. The stage manager entered, urging the band to quit fooling around and start playing at last, but Jukka fiercely told him to scram.

"Please, tell us what's happened," he said calmly. "Each fucking problem has a solution."

"You'll never believe me, guys. You'll think I'm nuts."

"You are, and we're accustomed to that."

"You'll drive me to a madhouse..."

"No sooner than the show's over."

"I saw Her in the crowd. The Snow Queen. Do you remember the night when we wrote this song?"

"Yes. You looked so sad and anxious. First, I thought you were just overwhelmed by emotion..."

"I was. Because I saw Her while you were still sleeping. I trust all of you, guys, so listen..."

Jari ended by telling his bandmates the detailed story on everything he saw and felt that gloomy night. He informed them as well that the Lady was present in the concert hall: he'd recognize her divine face everywhere. Ordinary people would take him for a schizophrenic, but not his band. They knew Jari was much of a visionary, and carefully listened to their leader. Suddenly Kai laughed. 

"Man! As long as we are together, the Snow Bitch will do us no harm. If I were you, I would make Her seat upon my long old dick, and she will surely melt down!"

A faint smile touched Jari's lips. Though the joke was evil, it brought the head of Wintersun back to confidence. 

"I know nothing about your dick, Kai, but our playing will melt Her for sure," Teemu joked more elegantly. 

The air in the concert hall was full of tension, as if a thunderstorm was about to strike. But Wintersun took the time they didn't really have. Jari drank half of Kai's whiskey, but still was able to play perfectly, thanks to his extraordinary skills and permanent practice. 

"Perhaps we'll exclude the song about that creature from today's list?" Jukka proposed. 

"We'd better not piss Her off," the leader sighed. "Come on, guys, we're being late. And sorry for this hysteria of mine."

Kai was the first to appear on the stage, he put himself at the drums and produced a long fierce beat. Then followed Jukka, waving his big hand in the air. Teemu, slight and graceful, greeted the audience by raising his dark-green Ibanez over his head. Finally, the tall Jari came with his silver-colored guitar on the shoulder, his light hair falling down to the waist. He approached the microphone and gave a long fierce cry. The human ocean before him roared and waved in reply, giving the band a long-awaited moment of pure bliss. 

He didn't look at the crowd any more, his voice was strong, and his fingers were as rapid as usual. The leader immersed into the shamanic extasy, summoning the hidden energies of the Space and forwarding them to the people around. As long as his playing was immaculate and his melodies were majestic, he had nothing to fear. The love of his audience was his best shield against Evil. 

The last song was "The Snow Queen", and it was really one of Wintersun's darkest pieces, heavy and heart-piercing, though Jari only used clear vocals here, without screaming or growling. The audience kept silence all the way, and now one dared to move. Despite the great number of people, it was getting colder in the hall with every second. Jari felt his fingers become stiff and disobedient. What the fuck?

He looked at Teemu, who experienced the same trouble. The younger guitarist bit his lip but was not going to surrender. Suddenly Jari heard Kai screw up his party and saw him shudder, as if he was in pain. The drummer regained himself at once, the awkward pause was quite short, but everyone heard it, of course.

Still, the public was well-disposed and asked for more. Jari brought his excuses and told the listeners that both he and the drummer were not feeling quite well. That was not really a brilliant thing to do, but the leader understood: it was dangerous to go on. 

"How are you, Kai?" he asked the drummer, when they were backstage again. The man's right eye was all red, and the tears were streaming down his cheek.

"I feel like shit," Kai replied through his clenched teeth. "As if some faggot plunged a screwdriver both in my heart and in my eye."

"You need to see a doctor, right now" Jukka said.

"Fuck the doctors," Kai grunted, badly upset with his performance. And when Teemu approached to stroke him on the shoulder, the drummer said in a husky voice:

"Keep your hands off and never do that again!.."


	3. The orphaned band

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The woman stretched her long slender arm towards Kai, and the drummer obediently took her hand. The next second, with an unhuman strength, the lady pulled the man onto the seat behind her and stepped on the gas...

Normally, Kai was a kind, good-tempered person, but since the not-so-good concert in St. Petersburg things started changing rapidly.

He started drinking like hell, it was too much even for a metal-head. He said that Wintersun was no longer a worthy metal band, and that Jari had lost the taste and the feeling of the music, writing some "teenage-girls-crap". He regretted not getting a "normal job" instead of "fooling around" with the band. He mocked the tenderness between the two guitarists, often referring to them as to "our schoolgirls." Most often he looked as if seized by infinite sadness. Sadness and hate. 

But still, he was their drummer, they could not and they did not want to replace him. Jari was doing his best to keep an eye on him, but that was not an easy thing to do, because now the drummer prefered to stay by himself. Sometimes Kai Hahto complained on hearing strange drum beats in his head that had nothing in common with the things they played, and these beats did not allow him to sleep enough.  
Jari was sure that this weird transformation was somehow linked to the Snow Queen, but couldn't make out why She chose Kai instead of him. None of the band admitted the Queen had ever visited them too.  
It was a short break in the rehearsal, when the disaster came. Jari could have guessed it was near by the unbearable cold, accompanied by a bitter wind and wet snow, not typical for the beginning of June - even in Finland. Teemu approached Jari to ask the lead guitarist to help him with a particularly difficult piece of the song. 

"Will you stop it?.." Kai grunted, as if he wanted to pierce someone's eye with a drumstick. He had been already boozy when he came to the rehearsal, but still he noticed everything he didn't like. "It's disgusting when you hold hands like small children. Fuck! That's really dumb!.."

"Don't like, don't look," Teemu answered curtly.  
"Great idea!" Kai exclaimed. "I need to smoke."  
Jukka wanted to follow the drummer, but he grunted again.  
"I'm not a fuckin' kid, Jukka. And I don't need your company either."  
"Whatever..." the bass guitarist shook his head and turned on the coffee machine. The drummer left the room, coughing loudly. Jari was watching his friend through the window, as Kai went outside, lit the cigarette and brought it to his lips. 

Suddenly he heard a motorcycle roar. It was strange, because the windows of the rehearsal studio normally did not let in any sounds from the street. The next second, the Wintersun leader understood everything and bolted outside, following his friend.  
Jukka and Teemu could see a mighty slightly motorcycle slow down near Kai Hahto, a motorbike driven by a tall long-haired albino beauty clad in all-closed, but tight silver clothes and heavy boots.  
"Man, don't look at her! Don't come near!" shouted Jari, running towards the drummer. Alas! He tripped over an empty can, fell, and two precious seconds were lost.

The woman stretched her long slender arm towards Kai, and the drummer obediently took her hand. The next second, with an unhuman strength, the lady pulled the man onto the seat behind her and stepped on the gas. Jari rushed about two hundred meters behind them, but could not catch up with the bike that gained speed in a heartbeat.

Kai didn't ever turn his head. He was silently holding tight the woman's ice-cold waist, her hair waving around his head. None of them cared about wearing a helmet.

"Kai! Please, don't !.." Jari roared in vain, feeling no more strength for the further pursue. The guitarist suffocated, his lungs, heart and blood vessels were about to explode. Finally, he leaned on a lamp post, watching the bike and Kai the drummer jump upwards and dissolve in the air.

Drained, Jari returned to his friends, not knowing what to tell them.  
"Relax, man," Jukka said softly, as Teemu silently embraced the lead guitarist's shoulders. "Everyone would enjoy a good ride with a beautiful chick. Especially when one is so troubled as our Kai now is. Perhaps this is what he was lacking all these months."  
"You don't understand! Oh, you don't understand, Jukka! Our NORMAL Kai would have never done it! He won't return..." Jari yelled. 

"I think you're taking this fairy-tale too close to heart. As well as your strange dreams," Teemu objected. "Dreams normally don't come true until you believe in them that strongly."  
"You're stupid, both..." Jari hissed.  
"We've got one more bully now," sighed Jukka dialing Kai's number. But the drummer did not answer - neither that evening, nor the next day. He did not appear at home, and no friends have seen him since that unhappy day. The police could find no traces of Kai Hahto, either, and the street cameras that might have registered the abduction, had gone out of order seconds before. The band had to literally hide from the press, as no one of them desired to discuss their loss in public. Rumour spread around Wintersun like a forest fire, but the men didn't care to deny anything.

Jari bitterly blamed himself for his drummer's disappearance. He shouldn't have left Kai alone, not even for a minute, despite all his dark mood and hostile behavior. He was responsible for his band members, and this time, he fucked his duty up.  
It was a gloomy Sunday, when the rest of the band were sitting in Teemu's neat apartment, attempting to work out a plan. They had to cancel all their European shows, and this resulted in a huge money loss. But now that was the last thing to disturb them.  
"Where does She live, in the Arctic?" Jukka said. "I don't think that Nuclear Blast will fund our journey there..."

"We could join a group of scientists or crowdfund our journey," Teemu proposed.  
"Just listen to yourself, men!" Jari argued. "What shall we say to these people? "The Snow Queen stole our drummer,and we're going to look for him throughout all the Arctic, not knowing where exactly he is?" What sane person will ever fund such a rescue operation?"  
"We could play a charity concert on the North Pole and shoot a video as well," said the bass guitarist. "To save narwhals, for example. I love narwhals, they are the unicorns of the sea!"  
Suddenly Teemu bolted from his armchair, a fire of hope gleaming in his pitch-black eyes.

"Attention, guys. Now I think it's no use to look for the Snow Queen in this particular world, for her realm does not belong to it. We'll sooner die in the Arctic ocean than bring our Kai back. But, as far as I know, there are some "interchange stations" on the Earth.

"These sci-fi books of yours!" Jari sighed.

"Any other suggestions, my heart?"

"Go on," said Jukka. "Your idea can't be stranger than the things that happened".

"What we should do, it's to find a knowing person, who may take us to this kind of place," continued the younger man. "I guess, Anne should know something."  
"Who's that?"  
"A master of Runes. Something like a witch, but a good one. She made this thing for you, Jari," Teemu pointed to Jari's small wooden pendant with a Runic inscription carved on it. The young guitarist gave it to his friend as a birthday present, and Jari only took it off while taking a bath.  
"We've tried everything. Why not try this?" Wintersun's leader sighed.


	4. Time 2 go to Hel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The Snow Queen is another name for Her Majesty Hel, the goddess of winter and death. I fear, it's nearly impossible to bring your friend back."

Anne was not at all old, as many imagine witches to be. The woman was in her mid-thirties, light-haired, small and thin, dressed in an elegant mixture of deep grey and red. She recognized Teemu at once and kissed him lightly on the cheek. 

"Got any trouble?" she asked at once, when Wintersun greeted her. Teemu nodded. 

Anne invited the three men into a spacious dining-room. There was nothing extraordinary about the place, except an extremely large red cat who slumbered peacefully in the corner. The witch made some delicious berry tea and then listened attentively to Wintersun's story. And every phrase made her mood darker.

"The Snow Queen is another name for Her Majesty Hel, the goddess of winter and death," she said seriously. "I fear, it's nearly impossible to bring your friend back. She never let Balder go, though gods were asking about it..."

However, Jari did not believe someone could be impossible to him.

"Why Kai and not me?" he asked.

"When did you meet her first? Name the exact date."

"It was 15 December."

"And on December 23, you got the pendant from Teemu. I designed is as a strong shield from the underworld creatures. It bears one of Odin's names, this is why Hel didn't dare to harm you. Your drummer provoked Her, so She decided to take him instead."

"She wants him as a lover doesn't she?"

"If they kissed or made love, Kai Hahto must be dead by now. But, fortunately, Hel isn't much interested in things like this. 

"What does She like?"

"Rational things. Order. Mathematics. Perfection. Your music, I'm sure, otherwise She would not sing the underworld song to you". 

"What does She hate?"

"Fire and the warmth of the sun. Сutesy. Passion, for it conflicts reason."

"It can't be so simple, Anne. We have plenty of passion in our music," Jukka intervened. 

"This may be the third reason She took Kai and not Jari. She might enjoy pure rythm without vocals and melody". 

"Evil bitch," Jukka sighed. 

"I wouldn't recommend to disturb Hel, but I know: if you don't go, you will never forgive yourself" said the woman, contemplating the rain that was pouring outside. "Please, go home wait for two ravens. When everything's ready, they will come to guide you."

"Ravens? Here, in the city? They may come, and they may come not," Jari objected. 

"If you don't want to die once you arrive, you should do exactly what I say," nailed Anne. 

"What should we do in exchange?" Jari asked. 

"You could buy my latest book on Runes, the woman answered with a smile. And, hey, don't go with the ravens without paying the second visit to me! Your magic charms will be ready by this time!"

The friends spent two painfully long weeks preparing for the journey and waiting for the signal. Of all the three bandmates, Teemu Mantysaari was the most experienced traveler and outdoorsman, so he was in charge of buying the necessary clothes, food and equipment for a long stride away from the civilization. 

Jukka helped him around: the preparations being the best way to chase away gloomy thoughts. The bass guitarist read somewhere that Hel's snow warriors feared nothing but fire and intended to buy a personal flamethrower, and only its heavy weight stopped him from this undertaking. 

Jari continued his infinite guitar practice and took pains to work out every day. At free time, he studied thoroughly the book he bought from Anne and wrote something in his shabby notepad. He surrounded himself with some other books concerning old Norse magic and the lore dedicated to Her Majesty Hel. In the evening, the three gathered at Jari's place and played together until sleep didn't make their eyelids heavy. Sometimes they passed out with guitars still in their arms. 

And every day they asked themselves - what if Anne joked about the two ravens just to get rid of them and sell her pretty expensive book?

The window was half-open, when Jari heard the clanking of sharp claws against the windowsill and the impatient wing-flapping. It was still dark outside, the clock on the nightstand showed 3.15 AM. However, this time the lead guitarist was not at all sleepy, he was full of strength and determination. He opened the bedroom window to the ravens, and the mighty black birds greeted him with loud cries. 

"This is true! Yes, this is true!" Jari whispered in euphoria and sang: 

"Sons of winter and stars, rise!!!" 

making Teemu fall from the bed to the floor and get tangled in the sheets.

"Fuck you, Jari," Jukka moaned from the living-room. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes, and we can't afford to waste it!" 

"Shall not we see Anne first?" Teemu reminded.

"She must be sleeping now, but we can't wait until daytime," Jari said, heading to the kitchen. "Can you believe it? We're ready, at last!" he exclaimed, ready to dance with joy. He cut several pieces of cheese and grabbed some cookies to feed the birds who fell on the treat with a great pleasure. Teemu attempted to stroke a raven on the head, but the creature jumped aside and gave the guitarist an angry croak.

Having finished the meal, the band dressed and took their backpacks. Despite the season, Teemu insisted that his bandmates should wear warm clothes. As for Jari, he did not forget to fetch an acoustic guitar and hung it over his backpack. 

"Music is magic," he said. "The only one that will work for sure!"

The streets were empty, the glossy leaves reflected the gold of the first sunbeams. Fresh morning wind was playing with the travelers' hair. The ravens were flying slightly ahead. Sometimes they sat down on street lamps and cried, encouraging the humans to move faster. The bandmates found themselves outside Helsinki, when sunrise was in the full blaze. 

However, deep inside the forest night still reigned, and Wintersun members could hardly see each other's faces. Neither did they see the birds that led them and could only learn direction from the sound. Finally, they found themselves in dense mist and had to hold to each other not to get lost. Sunshine was too faint here, and no one would say where this damp fog would end. Strange little shadows were moving between the trees.

"Seems like it's begun..." Teemu wishpered. "Hold on, Kai, help is coming!"


	5. The unholy night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was obviously an evil spirit, and Teemu doubted it was afraid of a crucifixion. Besides, he did not have any...

The forest seemed dead, for there were no leaves on the trees, no fresh grass on the ground. Jukka supposed that a chemical or a nuclear disaster had broken out in this place. Jari joked that gaining an additional pair of hands would be a new word in guitar playing. 

Least of all they wanted to stay here for a long time; though all the three were hungry, having lunch in a forest like this didn't seem quite a good idea. The lurking shadows in the mist made Wintersun nervous, though none of the band would admit it. 

Soon the soil became wetter and softer under their feet, soon it started producing unpleasant sounds under their feet: the place was turning into a swamp. Jari struggled to restrain himself from cursing the two ravens who led them through this ugly wasteland with no human beings and no living beasts or birds other than the ravens. 

Though there was no shortage of swamps in Finland, Jari did not feel quite right about having no solid ground under his feet. And it was even more difficult to pick the way with a heavy backpack on his shoulders. Every second the bandmates risked getting sucked into the mire, and thus they walked with double caution, doing their best to only step on the tree roots and the rare mounds emerging from the quick ground. 

The older men felt tired in less than two hours, but Teemu experienced a strange transformation. He was full of strength and energy despite the difficulty of the way. The younger guitarist sang all the way, though normally he did not do it quite often. 

"Jari, do not be so sulky," Teemu said, putting his narrow palm on the lead guitarist's arm. "Do you remember the Swamp of Sadness in the "Neverending Story" and the fate of Artax?"

"Love that movie," the front man's bony face lit up at once.

"My watch!" Jukka exclaimed. "it doesn't work!"

"Mine's dead as well!" Teemu answered, but still he stayed calmer than both his friends. 

"No signal!" said Jari, checking his cellphone. 

"The best horror film tradition," the younger guitarist sighed. "But, at least, we have the ravens..."

"And what shall we do when night falls?" asked Jukka anxiously."I don't see any large mound where we could pitch up the tent."

"Then we'll have to walk until we reach solid ground," Jari shrugged. "The bog must end somewhere."

"My back already aches," complained the bass guitarist. Teemu approached and adjusted his backpack in the way it became easier to carry. 

The Wintersun men walked through the marshland till dusk, but it was not going to end. They lost the ravens out of sight, but still heard them cry. Jari possessed what people call "absolute pitch", but here, in the underworld, Teemu seemed to hear as well as a bat. 

"The forest does not sound good," he said. "I suggest that we should spend a night on a tree. That'll be safer."

"What do you hear?" Jari asked. "Wolves?"

"Some other creatures I don't know. More dangerous, I guess." 

"You must be joking, man" Jukka exclaimed nervously. "See, there is light! There must be some people!"

Jari smiled, but Teemu was not so excited. The rythm guitarist looked upwards, gazing at the ravens who were flying in circles over his head. 

"Come on, Manta Ray," Jari said. The fans nicknamed Teemu "Manta Ray" for his grace, and some time after even his bandmates sometimes addressed him like this. "Look, there is a house! Its windows shine with a yellow light! We must be there until night!"

"Seems we've got no other choice, for you will never prefer sleeping on a tree," Teemu sighed. 

"Does anything disturb you?"

"A strange feeling I can't explain. But perhaps, it must not trouble you. Let's go then."

The dusk became thick, and they heard strange howling, not even resembling that of a wolf. Anyone on their place would rocket to a human dwelling. 

The house was quite large, shabby but still beautiful. It was unclear why would anyone build it at the edge of the marshland, but perhaps, at the moment of the construction, the bog hadn't been there yet. The light in the windows was not electric: it seemed to be coming from numerous candles. 

As they approached the door, Teemu moaned with pain which suddenly pierced his head like a bullet. Jari kissed the younger man on the forehead to ease his suffering, Jukka knocked. 

Teemu saw a very old woman open the door. Tall she was, with an ugly face and thin white hair, but still posessed a slender body of a young girl, clad in a neat, long, all closed black dress. The contrast scared the young man, and his headache increased so much that he was struggling to hold back tears.

The front man, on the contrary, gave the old woman a broad smile and looked at her with admiration. So did the bass guitarist. 

"Good evening, gentlemen! You seem to have walked a long way! - the woman said. - Please, be my guests! I'm Elizabeth." 

She led them into a spacious dining hall and laid the table quite soon. Jari's and Jukka's eyes followed her every step, while Teemu collapsed into a chair, biting his lips. 

"Jari... Will you please find the pain-killer?" he asked. "It must be in your backpack."

"Ah?.. Oh, yes, sure," said Jari, unwillingly tearing his gaze from Elizabeth, who was coming back from the kitchen with as much as three bottles of wine and four obsydian goblets. It took the blond quite a time to find the medicine, and when he finally gave it to Teemu, the table was already was laden with food: different sorts of meat and poultry, pies and cakes.

No one could say where all these things came from. But the bandmates were too hungry to care. 

Despite the pill, Teemu suffered too much to eat or drink anything. But his bandmates, involved in drinking and chatting with the hostess, did not seem to care any more. Even Jari, who normally would risk his life for his beloved one. 

What the fuck was going on?..

On noticing Teemu's distress, Elizabeth encouraged him to drink wine, claiming it would relieve the pain at once. But the young man only touched the goblet with his lips without really drinking and only ate bread to regain strength. 

He noticed, that despite her looks, old Elizabeth was as polished as a princess and as swift as a girl. She discussed high, fine things with Jari, especially music. She asked Jari to play and to sing. And then a strange thing happened. The woman invited the front man to dance, and even after he put aside the guitar, the melody was still filling the air...

Did Jari pay attention? Never. Neither did Jukka, hypnotized by the sight of their dance. Teemu approached the bass guitarist and shook him by the shoulder. 

"Jukka, we should run away from here. At once!"

"Man, you're insane!" Jukka answered. "Who will leave such a place with such an eye candy for a hostess?"

"Eye candy? She must be well over a hundred years! I bet she only has four teeth!" the rythm guitarist argued.

"Teemu, you're dead-drunk if you speak things like this! The lady's brilliant! Don't like don't watch" Jukka growled.

The next second Teemu saw Elizabeth on Jari's lap, giving him a long passionate kiss. His hands were already trying to find a way under her clothes. Teemu felt his fists clench and tears come once again into his eyes. 

Impossible. 

Elizabeth laughed and waived to Jukka, inviting him to join her and Jari. For a second, Teemu saw exactly what his bandmates must have seen - a gorgeous lady with long obsydian hair and porcelain skin. But then the vision disappeared, replaced by the monstrous picture of Jari and Jukka kissing and touching the old hag. Most of all the young guitarist wanted to sting his eyes out. 

"Will you join us?" Jari's drunken voice asked Teemu. The younger guitarist just stared at his own knees, saying nothing.

"Let's find some other place, boys," Elizabeth said with a mischeivous laugh. "Your friend's not in a mood, so let him drink to his pleasure!"

Teemu was so stunned he couldn't move and almost couldn't breathe. The harridain led his bandmates to the tall doors at the end of the room and closed them, leaving him alone in silence. He buried his face in his arms crossed on the table. How things like this could ever happen? 

His reason still resisted the thought about magic. But there was no other way to explain all the wicked things that were going on. He recalled fairy tales from his childhood, where even milder situations did mean a great trouble. The guitarist rushed to the door, but it was closed from inside, and the muffled sounds of the orgy he heard were tearing his heart apart.

Something awful will happen, if he does not act at once. He could not believe old Elizabeth's only wish was to fuck. 

He closed his ears and tried to guess why the weird hostess of this place seduced his friends so easily but could not get him laid as well. Did it have anything to do with his excruciating headache? Anne would have asked the Runes, but she was so far away... 

The Runes. Perhaps, Jari's notepad would help? Teemu found it in the inner pocket of his friend's jacket. He feverishly thumbed through the pages, but saw nothing that could be useful. Suddenly a phrase caught his attention: "Opening the Way". On the next line he saw a relevant runic formula. The trouble wat that he had neither marker, nor pen to copy it on the door. 

"Damn it!" Teemu exclaimed, forgetting his headache in the first place. Not wishing to lose time on looking for stationery, he just cut his arm and started writing the formula with his own blood.

While writing, the guitarist was thinking through another question: what he would do with the creature looking like an old woman. It was obviously an evil spirit, and Teemu doubted it was afraid of a crucifixion. Besides, he did not have any. Still, he had a thin silver chain around his wrist and a hatchet. 

He touched the bloody inscription, asking it to open the door for him, then pushed it with all the force that he was capable of, and nearly fell, when the door gave way. 

Jari, naked, did not react when Teemu stormed into the room. He seemed to have passed out. Jukka still moved and moaned under the woman, whos hair had started to blacken, who looked much younger now and who was sucking greedily at the bass guitarist's neck. 

"Now, leave him!" Teemu ordered, making a step forward and clenching the hatched in his hand. Elizabeth reluctantly turned her head but showed no fear. Her lips were red with blood, her narrowed eyes were full of hatred. Teemu noticed some blood on bedsheets and thought that he must have appeared too late. 

"First, I'll get rid of you, ugly piece of Elven trash!" she hissed, showing her four long fangs. Her pose now was that of a beast of prey, ready to attack. 

Teemu did not have time to ask himself why she called him "Elven trash": the creature threw itself at him at such speed that any ordinary human would be knocked down. However, the guitarist saw her move as quite a slow one and managed to evade the attack. His hatchet whistled in the air, but missed. His next strike reached Elizabeth's head. It would have killed or seriously injured a normal woman, but she hit him so fiercely that the hatchet flew out of his hand, drawing a large curve in the air and nearly hitting Jukka, who was either drowsy or dead. 

Not caring about the weapon, Elizabeth fell on her prey and knocked him down on the floor. Her razor-sharp teeth gnashed at his neck, but somehow he managed to protect his throat with his left arm. The creature gave a blood-curdling wail of agony, loosening its grip, as the silver chain got into its mouth. 

The next second, Teemu overturned the vampire and hit her with all his force. Stunned, she missed a moment when he tore the chain from his wrist and pressed it to her throat, as if he was going to slice something soft, and felt the smell of burning flesh.

She struggled, she screamed and attempted to tear her enemy with her claws, as the fine silver thread was burning its way into her flesh. Finally, with a rapid strong move, Teemu sliced the vampires neck open. Dark blood spattered his face, clothes and hair. Trembling all over and avidly gulping the air, the young man rose to his feet and went to check on his friends. He had deep wounds all over his face and the traces of the fangs on his wrist. However, headache troubled him no more.


	6. His family

To say that Jari felt devastated is to say nothing. He had vampire bites on his chest, on his neck and on his wrists, and they were aching badly. He was weak from the blood loss. He was feverish. So was Jukka. But still, they had to move on and find anything to prevent transformation.

Teemu did not seem affected by the vampire's bite, his wounds and bruises from fighting the creature were healing rapidly. However, he was suffering in his own way. He had seen his lover being seduced by someone else. And though Teemu clearly understood that Jari could hardly resist this ancient and powerful being, he felt strong physical rejection and avoided touching the older guitarist since he had dressed Jari's and Jukka's wounds. He сould hardly meet their gaze and knew it was not right at all. 

Especially now that he risked losing them to something worse than death.

The ravens led Wintersun through a thick forest, but now it was not swampy at all. It would have looked magnificent, if the band was not so much in pain. The birds trusted Teemu much more than at the start of the journey: from time to time one of them landed on the young man's shoulder to rest.

“I'm thirsty,” Jukka complained, sadly looking inside Teemu's empty flask (his own had been empty long ago).

“Why on Earth have you drunk all the water at one sitting?” Teemu asked. 

“I've drunk mine, too,” Jari sighed. His thirst was unbearable. 

“Ok. We're not in the desert, and I think, we'll soon find something,” Teemu calmed him. 

“I'm cold, Teemu. I'm so cold as if I were freezing to death!” - the blond said. The lead guitarist's natural pallor was grayish now, his features sharper than ever, dark circles clouded under his pale blue eyes. He was wearing his winter jacket, boots and a scarf with a blanket over his shoulders, but was quite visibly shivering. 

The rhythm guitarist touched the taller man's forehead, which was hot enough to fry an egg on it and decided to make a “pit-stop”. He overhauled his medical kit, extracted some more anti-pyretic drugs and handed them to his unlucky bandmates, wondering why he was feeling physically normal. 

“I don't want to become that thing, Jari,” Jukka sobbed all of a sudden. He touched his fangs with his tongue and found that they grew sharper. Then he showed them to the dark-haired guitarist.

“At least, we'll live long enough to see Time II released,” Jari smirked unhappily. He understood: it was no use to ask Teemu to kill them both in case of their transformation. He was the sort of person who would rather kill FOR them, and they'd already seen the proof.

Hardly did he swallow his tablet, a hostile group of people surrounded them. They were clad in dark-green clothes and beautiful armor of matte metal that was surprisingly thin and flexible, having nothing to do with the heavy “cans” of the human Middle Ages. The strange guys aimed their spears at Wintersun, and these spears were all made of white dazzling light.

“Who are you, strangers?” asked the man who had the longest hair in the group, tressed into a thick silver braid reaching his knees. “Why would and Elf and a Half-Elf bring a human to this sacred wood?”  
“Good morning, sir, my name is Teemu,” the guitarist answered with a slight bow. “My friends, Jukka and Jari, are very dangerously sick; I would say, they could die at any moment, so I beg you to help them...”  
The spears of light disappeared from the strange people's hands simultaneously. Together with two bodyguards, the silver-haired man approached Jari and Jukka who were sitting helpless on the grass. Jari introduced himself and made an effort to give him a hand. The man shook it. Jukka tried to do the same, but the man did not react. 

“My name's Vidblain,” said the man to Teemu, and the visor of his helmet slowly rose by itself, revealing his large shiny eyes. “I'll take you to Prince Ringar, he will decide what to do with you.”

“Thank you, sir,” the younger guitarist said. He tried to help Jukka rise on his feet, but the bass guitarist was nearly unconscious. On seeing this, Vidblain sighed and slowly raised his hand, levitating the man.

“Is this Alfheim?” asked Jari, surprised. 

“No, it's The Land Beyond, a transfer zone between worlds. But our clan lives here and keeps an eye on it,” Vidblain answered. “One or two Dvergs or humans moving around is not a problem, but, you know, if they start arriving in hundreds, thousands...”

“Who are then the Elf and the Half-Elf you mentioned?”

“The Elf is your younger friend, the Half-Elf is you. I may only guess how you found yourselves in the wild human world, but, anyway, you are our brothers. What I see! A vampire bite! Normally they don't drink Half-Elves either, but the one who attacked you must've been too hungry.”

That clearly explained the fact Teemu's looks hadn't changed much since his arrival to Wintersun, as well as his and Jari's extraordinary gift for music. 

Vidblain whispered a spell, making Jari fall asleep in seconds, and raised him to the air as well: Teemu's fascinated smile was the last thing the front man saw. And when the lead guitarist opened his eyes, he found himself wrapped into fragrant silky sheets, lying in a vast bedroom with ivory-colored walls. It was already evening, and the light of different colors came from live flowers in the pots and some species of algae in the big crystal jars. The ravens were sitting at the window, cleaning each other's pitch-black feathers with tenderness no one could expect from them. 

“That's incredible!” exclaimed Teemu, who was sitting on Jukka's bed (the bass guitarist still seemed unconscious). “While our civilization has been relying on mechanisms, coal and oil, they've been developing biotechnologies and their own brain! And I wouldn't say that's worse! Look! Your bites have almost healed!”

There was something unnatural in his voice. 

“So I won't be a vampire?”

“The Elves arrived just on time to give you proper treatment, guys. But Prince Ringar said, if you'd became a vamp, you'd have been extremely strong and dangerous due to the presence of Elven blood.”

“How's Jukka?”

“Still sleeping. He can't recover so fast as we do,” Teemu said with a sigh. “The fever's gone, and Ringar promised he'll be all right when morning comes.”

Despite Jari's marvelous salvation, an inexplicable sadness persisted in his heart. The younger guitarist was speaking to him, but was not with him completely. The fact that he would not approach made Jari feel uncomfortable and even more. It scared him. 

“Will you please give me the guitar?” Jari asked and slowly touched the strings, when the guitar was in his arms again. A long sound filled the room that seemed not to have any other furniture but two beds and a big chest by the wall. 

“They've invited you to stay with them, haven't they?” Jari heard his own voice tremble, as he was shredding at the upper string. 

“They have... The Elven folk is not numerous at all, they urgently need “new blood”. Each one counts,” Teemu said, lowering his eyes and brushing aside his long heavy mane. 

"And what did you say, Teemu?.." Jari asked, his voice trembling. He felt that something desperately wrong was going on. 

"I promised to return and stay here when we release Kai..." Teemu said hoarsely. "But it was not my desire, Jari. I did it in exchange for your lives that the Elves appreciate so little."

Jari's lips parted, but he lost his voice completely. 

"It was Ringar's demand: either I promise to join him and have you cured or I refuse and have you killed."

Jari's heart started beating faster, as it did many years ago, when he saw a shy slender teenager from Tampere shred like a devil. His fingers became icy - as they had been before his very first concert. 

"That's nonsense!" he spoke feverishly. "You can break your word and stay with us!.. Look, such conditions are pure violence, you are not obliged to keep up..."

Teemu just shook his head, and Jari saw tears in his eyes. 

"Wintersun is my true family. Not them," he gasped. "However, they saved you and Jukka. Ringar will help. He won't give us warriors, cause he doesn't want to mess with Hel, but he promised to provide us with some weapons and transport”, Teemu continued. "The snow wolves."

"You just love it here!" Jari exclaimed. "They are as beautiful as you are, they play curious tricks with matter and energy. I guess, they are immortal, right? Am I right?.."

"Jari, please..." Teemu lowered himself on his knees near the front man's bed, and bitter tears were rushing down his cheeks. "Do you really think I wanna exchange you and my audience for living among the creatures I don't know at all?.. But I have always kept my promises."

Jari knew the younger man too well, for they had worked together for more than ten years and shared much joy and even more pain. Teemu could not betray his band, because the night before he had killed a living being to defend his friends. He would defend them if even they had changed into the blood-lusty sons of the night. And there was the bitterness in his large black eyes that no man was able to fake. 

“You still despise me for what I did?” Jari asked, as if nothing was more important at this moment.

Instead of answering, Teemu sat next him, kissing his forehead and both his eyes. The next second, the friends melted into a long desperate embrace. And some time later, Jukka woke up hearing the young guitarist scream Jari's name.


	7. The Wolves of Izmiran

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is so fucking human - to bargain even when Life and Death are concerned...

In the morning Wintersun band was standing in the vast empty hall of Izmiran – the Elven palace of the Land Beyond, carved in the body of a mountain many centuries ago. Prince Ringar, as tall and fair-haired as Jari and clad in a waistcoat of thick moonlight white silk, was bidding his farewell to his guests. 

But Jari loathed to see the haughty face of their so-called “savior”, as the price to pay was too high. It was the first time when he desired to literally eat someone's face up and was struggling not to do that. Jukka hoped that after Kai's release Teemu would leave the thought of rejoining the Elves, but the front man knew his younger friend as well as no one. 

“I'm happy to see you fully recovered,” Ringar told Jari and Jukka with a haughty smile. He really seemed not to see anything bad in the condition he had imposed or he didn't care. 

“How can Elves find themselves in the human world without knowing it in the first place?” the head of Wintersun asked. 

“Sometimes, when some major evil threatens our children, we hide them among humans. Some Elves are exiled to that world for evil deeds, and this is really a hard punishment, harder than a whip of fire.” 

“You despise humans but when your kids are in danger...” Jari began, getting more and more furious. 

“Haven't you ever despised humans for what they do to the Earth and to each other? I thought, that 40 years of life in that place have taught you something...” Ringar said coldly. “Still, I hope that your Kai is a decent man and is really worth the risk you are going to take.” 

“He is!” Jukka exclaimed. The ravens on his shoulders cawed in the sign of agreement. “Your Highness... Why do you need the one I love?” Jari asked, looking directly into Ringar's emerald-green eyes. 

“Not me personally. My single sister does, and so does our clan,” Ringar answered. “Sorry about that, but this is a fair price for thy salvation and the future release of your drummer Kai.” 

“Hey, are we on a marketplace? This is so fucking human - to bargain even when Life and Death are concerned!” the lead guitarist exclaimed. “Jari, please...” Teemu whispered. 

“Shut the Hel up!” Jari growled, feeling ashamed of himself. He had never, never spoken to his friends like that, but now he was too furious to watch his language. 

“Your Highness, are you ready to marry your sister to someone who loves another person?” 

“Family's not about love,” Ringar raised his eyebrow, looking at Jari as if the lead guitarist were a kid. “It's about obligation.” 

“Really? Then I'm sorry for thee, as the Wintersun family's about love.” the lead guitarist proudly said, clenching his younger friend's hand. 

“Your Highness!” - said a clear woman's voice, and they saw a lady in a long navy dress appear between two high narrow pillars of green stone. She strikingly resembled the Elven prince, she moved so lightly as if she were stepping on the air, and her sunny hair reached her knees. 

“I thought about it all night long, and I ran to a conclusion. It's not good to ruin someone's family like that. Wintersun is on the Earth to make it a better place. And the band won't be the same without Teemu. If he's lost, it won't work well, and Evil will reign the Earth completely.” Both Jari and Ringar were gazing at her with awe, while Jukka's and Teemu's eyes shone with admiration. 

“Yesterday your opinion was different, Lasswen,” the prince spoke through clenched teeth. 

“He's our ambassador in the human world. He and Jari. And I wish not to hurt them like this, Ringar. They just don't deserve such cruelty,” the woman said. 

The prince rolled his eyes. On the one hand, he could use his power to make his sister comply, and yes, he could hold the “metal Elf” by force and do that right now. On the other hand, he wouldn't be able to respect himself for such kind of violence. 

“And, besides, it's really too human – to claim something in exchange for a fine gesture.” she added, approaching Wintersun and greeting Teemu with a smile. Jari understood that they had already seen each other and that she had even heard him play. 

Ringar's eyes betrayed his hidden rage. He invented something he thought to be a beautiful plan, but his sister was the one to ruin it. “Think twice, Lasswen,” he said. “I've done it a hundred times. And I beg you to liberate Teemu from the promise”, she told her brother with a low bow. Jari wondered if an ordinary human fangirl would let either of the band go so easily in the same situation. 

“You've got it!” the prince said in a low voice. 

The Elven maid clapped her hands, and three mighty creatures proudly strode into the hall; they were as tall as horses, but more hairy and completely different in stature. On seeing them better, Jukka gave a short cry of surprise. These were giant wolves – stark, broad-shouldered, with large paws and teeth as sharp as daggers. 

“Not quite a numerous, but a really glorious breed,” Lasswen boasted. “It's better to travel in the snowy lands on them than on horseback.” Jari remembered Robert Scott's unhappy Antarctic venture and agreed. The largest wolf – as white as snow – approached the front man and licked his face. The black one – a she-wolf – playfully poked Teemu's shoulder with her nose. Jukka came to the third wolf, which was reddish-grey, and stroked it on its heavy head. 

“They must need plenty of food”, Jukka noted. 

“You'll have to share your meal with them just to prove your respect and care,” prince Ringar. “Because they will hunt at night when you sleep. Even hungry, the snow wolves won't do you any harm, unless you are cruel to them.”

“They are strong and brave, yet they won't follow you to the halls of Hel”, Lasswen warned. “No animal dares enter that place, cause every animal is afraid of Garm.” 

"Who's that?" Jari asked.

"The Guardian of Helheim. But I have no doubt you'll defeat him."

The three bandmates were touched to the very depth of their heart. They responded with a bow and then came in turn up to the Elven maid and kissed her hand. They got some more presents from the fair Lasswen: a battle-ax for Jukka, a narrow sword for Jari and a crossbow for Teemu, as he had no time to learn the Elven tricks with Matter and Energy.

An hour later, when they accustomed themselves to their extraordinary transport, the bandmates rode through the gate of Izmiran on the back of their wolves, shouting with joy. Wind whistled in their ears and caressed the thick fur of the beasts. The ravens, as always, were flying about a hundred meters ahead. The feeling of speed, of a strong beast of prey moving underneath, gave them a concert-like euphoria. 

Alas, their happiness was not to last long.


	8. The Essence of Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jari was hanging in the abyss between life and death, exhaling thick clouds of vapor. He challenged the darkness itself and was waiting for a miracle to happen.

The way towards Helheim seemed infinite. Riding their snow wolves, Wintersun scraped through the woods and then found their way in the gloomy rocky mountains, whipped by the bitter wind and the omnipresent sleet. And soon the memory of the magnificent Izmiran and its good-hearted hostess became something like a long-faded dream. 

The farther they went, the lower the trees became, and the colder it was getting. The air was damp, it crawled under their clothes and chilled them up to the bones. Even the ravens preferred to spend the night in one tent with the bandmates who huddled together, head to head, warming the air with their breath. Though, sometimes the birds selected a wolf and hid themselves in the thick fur of its belly. Somehow, the large predators understood that the black birds were not a snack. 

All way long Jari's brain was processing the strange melodies that came to his head by themselves. While he was on his wolf's back, he had nothing else to do but to compose music. In the evening, he took his notepad and a pen, leaned against his white wolf's giant body and wrote down the music born inside his mind. It was going to be an album – a long glorious album the metal-heads around the world would certainly love. He strove to make them feel all the splendor and the danger of this strange universe, and it was better not to disturb him at these hours.

Teemu often thought about his guitar students and even missed some of them, as he missed his beloved Ibanez. While Jari was immersed in writing, he dedicated himself into practicing regardless the cold air that made his fingers stiff and unruly.

Kai's fate was the only thing that preoccupied Jukka. When the Snow Queen took the drummer, he had nothing on but jeans, sneakers, a T-shirt and a hoodie. How could he then survive in Helheim, the kingdom of eternal night and frost?.. What could Hel be doing to him all this time, were he still alive? Certainly, the guitarists also thought about it, but they preferred to hide from these troubling thoughts in work. Jukka could not. He started suffering from insomnia and sometimes left the tent at night to feast his eyes upon Northern Lights. 

Here came the morning when they saw the outskirts of Hel's frosty domain. It was a vast snow-white plain without a single tree. The white sun gleamed brightly over the violet chain of sharp-edged mountains many miles ahead. The air was clear and still – no clouds, no icy rain, no wet snow. One could hear a lemming move within its hidden tunnel or the raven's feathers rustle high above. Any other sound would be like a sacrilege. 

The glorious sight made Jari smile: it was the best ambiance to concentrate on his songs while traveling. Teemu exposed his face to the sunbeams, enjoying every second. Jukka felt anxious; a thick lump was forming in his stomach and another – in his throat. He feared that solemn stillness around him. 

They had some Elven bread and hot chocolate for breakfast, packed their belongings and mounted on their wolves. Riding these beasts was slightly different from riding a horse. You had to lean on the wolf's body with your chest and embrace its neck with your arms, almost melting together with the large animal, forming a new single being with it. It was physically easier for Teemu, as he was smaller than the other two bandmates. He and his she-wolf shared the same cheerful mood.

“Hey, anyone wants to play catch-up?” Manta Ray asked his friends with a mischievous fire in his black eyes. The sparkling snowy space before them really tempted to enjoy the rush.

“No. We'll have our wolves tired too early,” Jukka grunted. 

“Jari?”

“Jukka is right in the first place, but why not make it to that menhir? It's not that long to make your black girl exhausted.”

“Really. Stop here then. Here shall we start!” the young guitarist exclaimed, happy to have his lover accept the game. “Jukka, if you don't play, you might count...”

“Okay, I'll do that,” the bass guitarist reluctantly agreed. “Three... Two... One!”

They galloped along the white plain as fast as their wolves could, and the sensation of freedom and speed was exciting. Manta Ray rushed ahead of Jari, and the front man was no quite happy about it. 

“No, you can't excel me in speed, love!” he thought and shouted at his white wolf to hurry him up. And, yes, Jari drew ahead of his friend and was the first to touch the large stone. 

Crack!

He shuddered from a deafening sound, as loud as an explosion – and a brief muffled scream. 

“In the name of Odin and Thor!” Jari roared, turning around and not seeing neither his younger friend nor the black she-wolf. 

Next second, he noticed a deep large crack in the ice – exactly at the place where Teemu and his she-wolf should have been. It was about three meters large and now separated Jari from Jukka.

The blond jumped off his wolf, rushed to the cavern, knelt on the ice and looked down. The crack proved so deep that Jari could not see the bottom despite daytime. 

“Teemu!..” he called, terrified. “Are you alive, boy?”

He heard nothing in reply. Not a single word, not a single sigh, not a single motion. 

“Please!” he begged, clenching his fists. “Teemu, respond me! Teemu!”

His chest and his head were about to burst, his eyes were burning, his voice broken. Trying to spot the younger guitarist in the depth, he didn't notice Jukka and his wolf leap across the crack. 

“What the fuck, Jari?!” the bass guitarist exclaimed, jumping off his grey beast. Everything was evident, but too hard to accept.

“I should have remembered!” Jari wheezed out. “Ice traps of this kind have killed some Antarctic explorers, they even devoured some vehicles... Teemu, don't keep silent, or I will lose my fucking mind!!!” he shouted again.

“It must be a hundred meters in depth,” Jukka said, his throat as dry as a wind in desert.

“Teemu must be stunned by the fall. Get me the rope, it must be in your bag. I'll pull him out of there,” the front man commanded. 

“Let me look for him.” Jukka proposed, because Jari was overwhelmed with emotion and thus would be risking too much.

“No way. I must do it myself. Besides, I'm lighter. How long's the rope?” with a great effort the lead guitarist took a grip of himself. 

“Forty meters. But listen, it's dangerous to place an ice screw here. That may produce another crack,” Jukka argued.

“You'll belay me, won't you?..”

They fished two ice axes and a flare out of their supplies: it had been Teemu who insisted on buying this equipment. The descent was an extremely dangerous venture, as Jari had no solid training and was not particularly strong, but he had no other choice. Meter by meter, he immersed into the hideous icy darkness, forcing himself to breathe as slowly as possible. The lead guitarist had taken off his thick winter jacket to have more freedom in movement; he was not suffering from the cold, because he had already been frozen from inside. 

Even at the depth of twenty meters Jari still saw nothing but dark bloodstains on the walls. And he was praying to all the gods he knew that this blood would belong to the fallen wolf. He lit up a flare to see the bottom of the ice trap, at last, but only saw thick blackness below. The surface turned out glossy and reflected the strong glare of the flare like a mirror. Jari let the flare go; it fell, striking another blood-stained ice brow, flew about ten more meters and went out. Jari heard a loud splash.

“Damn, this is water...” the lead guitarist exhaled. “Water so deep that you can see nothing else. Teemu, don't leave me like that, please!..”

He was hanging in the abyss between life and death, exhaling thick clouds of vapor. He challenged the darkness itself and was waiting for a miracle to happen. He knew they normally happen in the fairy-tale world. 

But not this time. The water was still, completely deaf to his pleas and sobs. 

“Hey, Jari!” Jukka shouted from above. “Found anything?”

A long blood-freezing wail, hardly belonging to a human being, was the answer. This wail of dire suffering was taken up at once by the surviving wolves of Izmiran who sat at the ice edge waiting for Jari's return. Out of his breath and almost out of his mind, the head of Wintersun reached for a knife, ready to cut off the rope and join his love in this greedy black depth. Jukka could not see it, but he somehow guessed what his friend was up to doing. 

“Please, for the sake of Kai, don't do anything to yourself!” he besought. “Jari, we've still got someone to save!”

The rope started trembling. Jukka understood everything and started crying. 

“Jari, I won't survive here by myself!” he yelled. This might sound strange from a large man with a battle-axe, but Jukka had to go on saying no matter what - just to win time. “Do you want me and Kai die too?.. Don't be such a selfish motherfucker!”

The trembling paused. 

“He will only die if Wintersun dies too, and when our music is played no more. And this is what's going to happen, if you take your life. You must return. You must record an album. And write a song... About how smart and brave our Teemu was... Do you hear me?” 

Down in the cavern, Jari shook his head and slowly shut the knife. He could barely see anything because of the lava-hot tears misting his eyes. Then he dug into his pocket again and pulled out a guitar pick with a big “W” printed on its side (Teemu had lost his own the previous evening).

“Rest in peace, Starchild,” he whispered and dropped the pick into the dark water.


	9. The Troll-Maiden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How nice the boys are!.. Their flesh must taste like wild honey! The blond is lean, but good enough for soup,” - the female troll smiled, showing her yellow wolfish teeth. “Seems we're having a party tonight!”

Since his ascent from the ice trap, Jari completely stopped talking. Jukka had no idea of what was going on in the front man's head at daytime, while the bandmates pursued their search for Kai, but in the evening the lead guitarist would seat by the fire, almost motionless, looking nowhere and stroking the air above his lap with a gesture of the most profound tenderness, as if he were caressing someone's hair. 

 

Though still able to take care of himself, Jari would not react to Jukka's speech and friendly embrace. He would not answer his questions. He had blood on his lips when he coughed and he was soon to fade. 

“Hold on, man,” Jukka repeated in a vain attempt to encourage him. “If you give up, you'll become a legit property of Hel. But I don't want to please this bitch that much!” 

Their way lay through a highland country which had almost no trees, but was rich in high rocks, narrow ravines and deep caves. This is where the travelers became the prey of mountain trolls. It was Jari who noticed the creatures seconds before the ravens started crying and stopped his giant white wolf at next to the ravine they had to enter. On both its sides, some large deformed shapes could be seen, attempting hard to give themselves for rocks. 

“Fucking fuck,” Jukka hissed, also detecting an ambush. 

On hearing once again the ravens' nervous cries, Jari slowly turned his wolf and drew his sword. Another group of bastards was coming from behind, the group that they hadn't noticed. All of them were tall, long-armed and broad in shoulders some having horns on their heads. The creatures carried heavy sticks and long spears, and they approached at a threatening pace. 

Run! 

In a desperate attempt to avoid the clash, Jukka and Jari leapt aside, hoping the wolves would be speedy enough to take them away from the enemy. They darted into a narrow passage between rocks, and this is where a thick net fell onto Jukka's and his wolf's heads. Trying to shake the net off, he saw a troll jump before them; the creature strongly resembled a hybrid between a Neanderthal man and a Velociraptor. He swung the weapon to smash Jukka's scull with a club, but the wolf, who had managed to free its head quarter a second before, got its saber-sharp teeth into the enemy's leg. The salvation was close, but a heavy stone, shot from a sling, hit the animal in the head, and it fell, pressing Jukka to the ground. 

Jari swung his sword but had no time to use it, because a blunt end of a troll spear (apparently made of a whole young tree) hit him in the ribs from behind, knocking the Wintersun guitarist unconscious. The wolf's head was caught into a loop, and the trolls who got more numerous with each second, managed to restrain the dangerous animal. So, Wintersun members and their wolves got severely beaten, tightly bound and dragged to a troll settlement hidden in a vast system of caves. The intricate labyrinth was lit up by lamps, made of human and animal sculls. The rare furniture that the captives saw in the rooms was also made of bones and some wood. The paintings on the cave walls looked relatively fresh and depicted no trolls but only normal men and women – growing crops, dancing and hunting a herd of deer. How was that possible?

“Who's that?” asked a gray-haired and particularly disgusting troll dressed in the polar bears' furs and wearing a small diadem between her long gray horns. It had a pair of heavy breasts and must have been a female. She was sitting on a kind of throne, not made of bones, but carved in a giant piece of volcanic glass. 

“One smells like an Elf, the other must be mortal,” answered a male troll hunter in a satisfied voice. Huge he was, and his arms resembled long scaly tree-branches. 

Though still dazed, Jukka realized that he understood every word the trolls said.

“How nice the boys are!.. Their flesh must taste like wild honey! The blond is lean, but good enough for soup,” - the female troll smiled, showing her yellow wolfish teeth. “Good job, Marglyne, seems we're having a party tonight!” 

“Stop, stop, stop!” the third voice intervened, and Jukka turned his aching head back. - I also took part in the hunt, and I was the one who caught the Elf and his White Beast alive! Before we eat these losers, I'd like to... play with them a bit.” 

Jukka saw another she-troll, clad in polar fox skins and chain armor. She was smaller than the first troll woman and looked much younger, but not much prettier. 

“Stop being ridiculous, Skadi!” shouted the old she-troll. “Normally we don't fuck our food.”

“They are not just food!” the young female cried. “They might save us!” 

“You still believe anyone will be able?..” 

“Give me just one night, Mom. Just one night and nothing more,” Skadi nervously pinched the pointed end of her long ear. 

“Well, they are yours, child” the troll Matriarch sighed. “But it's the last attempt, you understand?” 

“Is there any monster here that does not want to bang us?” Jukka asked himself, gazing with pain at Jari who was moaning with pain next to him. The poor guitarist must have got some of his ribs crushed by the vicious strike of the troll. 

“At least, we may win some hours in this battle against time,” the bassist thought. 

He heard the familiar sound of the strings. Shit. Someone was fooling around with Jari's guitar. Jukka was glad that it was not broken, but would it live long in the hands of these creatures? 

“Hey, give me that piece of shit!” Skadi ordered. “I want them to play for me as well!” 

The corners of Jari's mouth formed a kind of smile. Even now, when the risk of being devoured (perhaps, alive) was so close, his guitar was the main thing he cared about. Skadi easily threw the guitarist over her shoulder and dragged the bassist after her into the depth of the mountain, where bats flew and where water fell. Had Jukka's hands been free, he would drop some small things to mark the way. But in ten minutes he could hardly remember it. 

“So, my kittens, what about some good song for the beginning?” - the troll girl asked, turning the guitar in her hands. - Which of you can play this thing?” 

“You should untie us first.” Jukka answered. 

“Fair enough,” Skadi nodded. “Anyway, you cannot harm me, as you've got no weapon.” 

Jukka gazed at the she-troll once again. She was a head taller than he and Jari were, she was strong, and she hadn't been beaten. If even he succeeds in hitting her with the guitar, he will break it rather than do any serious damage to the troll. As Jari still was numb, he started playing, but his fingers were rigid with anger and fear and gave quite a petty sound. The troll girl made a discontent grimace, but did not tie his hands back. 

“Here's the choice you've got, sweeties.” Skadi announced. “Either you become my lovers, or you become my tribe's dinner. Why are you staring like this? Am I not pretty enough?” 

“No, miss. It's me and my friend Jari who are too weak, unpretty and ill-looking,” Jukka said, making his best in diplomacy. “Besides, none of us has enough sex drive to satisfy such a passionate young lady. In fact, we can't satisfy our wives and lovers back home, the poor things are always angry...” 

“At least you might do your best if you really wanna live,” Skady laughed. 

Jukka wanted to argue that one cannot challenge physiological reactions, but at this moment Jari woke from a stupor. 

“Listen,” the guitarist wheezed out all of a sudden. “I agree to be killed. But you should let my friend Jukka go.” 

Skadi looked at him, startled. 

“Are you giving your life for him?” 

“I am. And, besides, I'm a much better guitar player. Let me prove it.” 

In five minutes, the troll-maden collapsed to the floor, her face wet with tears, her shoulders shaking, her breath broken. The concentrated sadness produced by Jari's fingers pierced her heart like and arrow. Jukka was about to faint. He knew of his friend's music abilities perhaps less than Teemu but more than anyone else, it was difficult to surprise him, but this time Jari surpassed himself – even with an acoustic guitar. If he had an electric one, he could have probably crushed the troll tribe with emotion. 

“What is it? What are you guys doing with me?” Skadi pronounced, panting. “Is it a kind of magic?” 

“No, it's a song for my friend, who's no longer with us,” Jari exhaled. “Another one is in trouble, but may be still alive, so you must let Jukka go. If you want, I will play all night long. Please.” 

Skadi shook her shaggy head in hesitation. 

“If I release your pal, other trolls will catch and consume him. They've been hungry for a very long time. This dead friend of yours... He must've been someone really good, eh?” 

Something exploded inside Jari after the long days of silence. He spoke about the one he lost and he could not stop. He spoke of the years of mutual respect and admiration, of rehearsals, concerts and excruciating work on music writing and endless rewriting, and his self-hatred Teemu always managed to appease with his warm smile and funny jokes. He also spoke about Kai and his family in Helsinki which was missing him so much. 

“Don't you think that if I'm a girl you can manipulate me like this!” Skadi yelled, pulling at her own hair. But deep inside her heart, she was feeling an agony. 

“Sorry, I had no such intention.” Jari said. “But what exactly has happened to you, Skadi? I guess sex is not exactly what you want.” 

“Most of all I want to be human again...” Skadi grunted. “Many centuries ago, one bastard, a very mighty goddamn sorcerer, wanted to take me as a wife. I had already known he was a sick and evil man, so I refused without giving him any hope. The next morning we found ourselves like this – me, Mom and all our people. Everybody transformed. Our neighbors, including Elven motherfuckers, declared a war on us, thinking we became blood-thirsty and dangerous, they slaughtered some of my kinsmen, they pushed us into this wilderness, pushing us to become monsters for real.” 

“Skadi, could you give me one of your hairpins?” asked Jari politely. 

“So that you could stick it either into my throat or into my eye, right?” 

“To be on the safe side, you may break the pin in two, but I need it to repair my instrument so that I could play more songs tonight.” 

She did as he said and continued: “Before he left, that son of a bitch said that only then I will regain my normal self when a man consents to make love on me. But - alas! - everyone chooses death. They just don't understand that trolls will eat human flesh until the curse is broken... My tribe - they've put up with it. They've got accustomed to living like that, even my mother! But I don't want to..."

The troll-maiden sadly gazed at Jukka, while Jari was scratching Runes on the surface of his guitar. It was the last thing one would ever expect this guitar genius to do...


	10. The Counter-Spell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How long can you go on playing?” Skadi asked, guessing the principle of the game. 
> 
> “A two-hour concert's never been a problem,” responded Jari with a smile.

“Usually people call me a monster and say I should burn in Hell. Why on Earth should I burn there while Helheim is the place of eternal cold?.. You know what, guys? I'm really gonna set you free, lead you past our guards and join you to liberate your drummer. “As no mortal man has talked to me like you, no one has ever played for me,” Skadi continued. 

Jari was a thousand times right when he said that metal music was the best kind of magic, and he was even more right to practice every day with no excuses. Jukka was so excited that he was ready to kiss the band leader's hand. 

 

“What about our weapons and our wolves?” asked the head of Wintersun.  
“This is what I cannot promise, boys,” sighed the troll maiden. “Other trolls are keeping an eye on your stuff, and I'm not gonna fight them... I only have your sword, Jari, and you'll get it back as soon as we reach Helheim.” 

She still did not trust him much. But that was easy to understand. 

“Hmm...” the guitarist said.

“Jari, we are not here to set conditions, and she is not “Nuclear Blast”.” Jukka reminded. 

“I mean I've got one more idea both of you might like,” Jari now looked enthusiastic and almost healed. He did the same thing as Teemu had done before, saving his friends from the vampire. He pinpricked his finger and colored the newly-scratched Runes on his guitar with the red blood. 

“Stop this!” Skadi yelled, suspicious of any magic, but not yet determined to attack. To be on the safe side, Jukka gripped the troll-maiden's hand, and she replied by rubbing her thumb at his skin. 

Calmly, Jari blew at his wounded finger and started playing again, his eyes closed, a ghost of a smile on his pale face. And this was also a melody he had never played before – very slow and peaceful one. Listening to that music, one could imagine a young tree emerge from a seed deep at night.

“I just can't understand...” the troll girl murmured. 

“Trust him,” Jukka whispered. “He's a wizard, but not an evil one.” 

He saw the runic inscription on Jari's guitar produce a warm golden glow. In the world of their own, the power of runes was so much weaker than here... The longer Jari played, the stronger became their gleam. Jukka turned his face to Skadi to ask if she saw that too, but what the bassist discovered right now left him speechless for about half a minute. 

Skadi was no longer a disgusting troll, she turned into a dazzling young warrior, strength and grace beautifully combined in her athletic frame. She had soft brown hair, well-defined cheekbones and eyebrows to die for. 

“Do you see that too?” Jukka asked Jari, trembling with emotion. “How's that ever possible?” 

“Seems like we witness Skadi's true self,” explained the guitarist. “In her book, Anne called this formula “X-Ray”, it allows to see the essence of things, and I regret not using it from the very start. I'm no less surprised, you know... Didn't even expect the guitar to strengthen the signal that much...” 

“Hey, what are you speaking about?” the young lady asked in amazement.  
“Do you have a mirror, Skadi?” Jari asked.  
“Are you making fun of me?!” - she said bitterly. 

“Don't be angry. You are adorable. Period,” said Jukka, holding tenderly both her hands. The young woman raised her black eyebrows in surprise, her chest rising high in agitation. Her face was flushing, her lips parted, but she didn't find words to express herself. Jari bit in pain the inner side of his cheek, remembering Teemu who looked exactly the same when he craved for love. 

“Don't be a dumbass, Jukka. Do something,” he thought. 

“How long can you go on playing?” Skadi asked, guessing the principle of the game. 

“A two-hour concert's never been a problem,” responded Jari with a smile. “Our Jukka is shy. Please, help him.” 

As if trying to contest Jari's words, the bassist grabbed the girl and gave her a long passionate kiss, to which she eagerly responded. In the next seconds she was hastily liberating the bassist from his clothes. Finally, they lowered themselves to a heap of furry skins that served Skadi as a bed. 

Once again, Jari closed his eyes, yet he could hear everything: Skadi's “It's my first time” and Jukka's shriek of pain when the girl bit into his shoulder, their heavy breath, their sighs and growls, as they flung at each other like hungry beasts, the tender names Skadi сalled to her lover and her demands for more pleasure. 

Jari's own brain, face and fingers were going on fire, but he had no right to stop. Gosh! It had been so much easier with the festivals with thousands of people listening! Trying to concentrate, the guitarist thought about Hel in the icy depths of her palace and imagined Kai the drummer lost in the terrific white labyrinth and shaking with cold. What if she decides to make love on him as well? Anne had said that even a long kiss was enough to turn the poor thing into a sculpture of frozen flesh. 

“Never!..” he whispered and opened his eyes. Seeing a moist, almost motionless and surprisingly quiet tangle of limbs in the corner, he stroke the final chord and put aside the guitar. Exhausted by their vertiginous love-game, Skadi and Jukka dropped off in a heartbeat. Jari, on the contrary, was lively and full of strength. The accelerated power of the runes allowed him to recover fast.

Silently, the guitarist crept towards the sleeping lovers to appreciate the results of his work. Skadi, was hiding her face in Jukka's chest, but Jari had no doubt she was not a troll any more. Having emptied a long-awaited goblet of cold water, the lead guitarist bolted from the room and soon ran into a former troll warrior lying naked and unconscious on the cave floor. This guy looked like a normal man, too. The Matriarch and her people were sleeping in the main hall, drained by the energy-consuming transformation.

This is how Wintersun broke the evil spell and reconquered their right to live.


	11. Inside a Snowstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Kai approached, the friends could see him more clearly now. The poor thing had no eyes at all – only two bleeding holes instead.

Jari woke Jukka up without waiting for the mountain tribe to regain consciousness. He didn't know these people and their ways with the strangers, so he feared that the riding wolves might prove a too valuable asset for this folk. The head of Wintersun also supposed that not everyone would be happy about their marvelous transformation, as they had lost the inhuman strength and immortality of Trolls. The front man lived long enough to learn that people often were ungrateful. But if at home it only was distressing, here it might cost the band's lives. 

He discovered the whimpering wolves behind thick bars, asked Jukka to release them and left to search the precious elven weapons. The bassist took one of the Troll axes scattered about and started crushing the bars. When Jukka was through with the work, his grey wolf leaped at him – bright-eyed, bushy-tailed - and licked his face with utter joy. The white beast sat still, waiting for his master to reappear. 

“Are you just going like that? Without saying goodbye?” Skadi's low voice asked behind Jukka's back. The bassist wished he could be swallowed by the earth in a heartbeat. 

“Every second counts for us. We could not wait longer.” he replied.  
“Here are your weapons,” the former troll-maiden said curtly, handing Jukka his ax and Jari's sword.  
“Great! Jari must have run off his legs looking for them!” the bassist said, still feeling very awkward, as if he were not at all Skadi's savior but seducer.  
“To repay my and my people's debt, I could rejoin you as the third warrior. Your blond friend is more designed for magic, not for battle.”  
“No way!” Jari said hoarsely, stepping from around a cave column.  
“Why?” asked Jukka and Skadi in the same breath.  
“Nobody else should die because of me. And, besides, we've only got two wolves, not three. And even a wolf like this is only able to carry one person at a time.”  
“If you wait for one more day, I could make myself a pair of skis,” said the young woman.  
“No,” he repeated, frowning. “We can't wait any longer. And you don't owe us anything, really.”  
“My people have shot your birds dead and eaten them,” Skadi confessed, lowering her eyes.  
“Poor things,” exhaled the front man bitterly. He had already got attached to Wintersun's black-winged guides and considered them as Odin's messengers.  
“How're you going to find the path then?”  
“The Runes. The same formula that helped me transform you,” Jari said firmly. “Clear Vision.”  
Skadi silently shook her head. To see her that unsettled was quite heartbreaking, for her appearance and manners strongly reminded the lead guitarist of the one he loved.  
“If ever you change your mind, my sword's at your service,” she uttered. “You must have seen our kitchen. Find a smoked bear leg there to feed the wolves. The journey's gonna be hard.”

Then she fell on Jukka's neck, almost choking him in a spate of passion.  
“I'll be back as soon as everything is over. I promise,” he muttered, tenderly kissing her lips.  
“It's not at all far, the Entrance. But beware of the Winter spirits and the madness they might bring to you. Don't even try to fight them with steel. They only fear fire. Good luck now and bye!” 

She turned away and ran, so that no one could see her cry. 

Jari's and Jukka's further way lay directly to the North. Here, behind the mountain chain, there was nothing but an infinite white desert. A strong icy wind was pushing them back, making the wolves growl in displease. It was so cold and bitter that the travelers thought their faces would soon crumble into dust. The snowflakes flying to their face stung like evil white wasps, so the men covered their faces with skiing masks and scarves and hid their eyes behind ski goggles. But even then, feeling more comfortable, they could not put their wolves into gallop any more and would hardly make more than five or six kilometers per hour, because the poor riding beasts had no eye protection. Finally, Jari and Jukka had to jump off and continue their way on foot together with the wolves trotting by their side. 

Despite the fact that in Wintersun's home world it was June, nothing reminded of it in this desolate place. Dusk started falling quite early, as if at least it was October. Each new step was getting more difficult and took more and more forces from the two exhausted men who now seemed nothing but two tiny points of black ink on an infinite book page. 

Jukka contemplated Jari with a mixture of compassion, surprise and admiration. Normally the front man spent most of his time at his apartment in Helsinki, immersed in composing. Sometimes he would took strolls about a park or along the shore, but he was not prepared for this kind of endeavor. However, now the front man complained on nothing and moved on, as stubborn as a tank, while Jukka was about to collapse into the snow. Did the Runes give him endurance as well? Or was it anything greater – for example, the force that made him polish an album for many years?.. 

As evening approached, an immense cloud spread across the sky above them. It was not white, but nearly black and seemed to have wide triangular wings. On seeing it, Jari shuddered and exhaled a swearword. He told Jukka to fix a fire and started drawing something on the snow. 

“What are you doing?” asked the bassist, raising his eyes from the canned heat.  
“Building a shield against evil spirits,” the guitarist explained. “All we need to do is not to allow the snowstorm destroy it.” 

“It will be hard, given that fucking wind,” thought Jukka but said nothing. Their supply of fuel tablets was running out. Another supply was in Teemu's backpack that disappeared together with the young man. 

“Cheer up!” Jari exclaimed, as if he was reading Jukka's thoughts. “Skadi said – we're close!” 

Later on, Jukka saw that Jari was drawing a circle about five meters in diameter, which was formed by a set of Runes, among which Jukka recognized Teiwaz, Algiz and Thurizas, the representative of Thor and his hammer Mjolnir. Seconds later, he spotted Kenaz – “the Torchlight” - exactly what they needed. The pointed edges of this rune were directed outside, ready to meet any threat. 

Soon, they had a spot of flickering golden fire inside the circle and felt more confident. Jukka melted some snow in the kettle and brewed the last bags of Earl Grey tea. Jari, who seemed more tired from the work than from the journey, sat down by the fire. The bandmates had plenty of things to tell each other but were too exhausted, thus they were just sipping tea. Jukka found a stone-dried piece of lemon and bit it in two. 

The bandmates fed the wolves and dined themselves, leaning against the warm bodies of their riding animals. But short was their rest, as the snowstorm doubled its force, threatening to blow the handmade shelter off the fire. Jari jumped on his feet and rushed to save the Runic shield from being swept out. Suddenly Jari's white wolf rose to its large paws, bristling up and showing its fangs. The front man saw a shape move within the dense swarm of white wasps. It belonged to a man, and Jari would recognize this walk anywhere. 

“Oh, no... that's Kai...” he whispered. 

Jukka raised his head, curious to see what drew his friend's attention. 

“Kai!” he yelled, dashing towards the drummer. 

“God! Jukka, you've come here for me, at last!” - the voice of Kai pierced the darkness. “Frankly, I've already lost any hope... Is Teemu with you? And Jari?” 

The front man caught Jukka by the sleeve, shook his head in disapproval and forced the bassist to stay within the circle. 

“Don't move,” he ordered.

“Guys?” shouted the drummer through the blizzard. “Won't you come up to meet me?”

“Here we are, Kai! Stop walking in circles and sit down by the fire!” Jari replied, watching his long-lost friend move in the snow. 

“Sorry, Jari. I've lost my sight. I am blind. I don't know how long it will last, but I cannot find you.” 

“You are very close, man. Just follow our voices,” the guitarist insisted, his heart pounding in each cell of his body. He saw that Jukka was ready to throw himself beyond the shield and pulled his friend closer. 

As Kai approached, the friends could see him more clearly now. The poor thing had no eyes at all – only two bleeding holes instead. He stumbled through the snow, his hand stretched forward, attempting to touch something solid. 

“Just give me your hand, anyone!” he begged. About four meters separated them. Four fucking meters. Even someone blind would find their way such a distance. 

“Remember Skadi's last words,” Jari whispered to Jukka, still holding him tight. Both men approached the very edge of the safe area, calling for their friend. Three meters... Two... Jukka attempted to stretch the haft of his ax out to Kai, but Jari was faster. 

He just clicked a lighter, releasing the fire, and heard a loud shriek of agony. A monstrous thing was facing the bandmates; it resembled a giant insect made of ice but nonetheless able to move and speak. Its heavy jaws snapped against Jukka's face but caught nothing, as the man quickly stepped back. 

“As well as you, I wanted nothing but to embrace our Kai... Now you see. They will copy our friends, our enemies, our parents – just to pull us out of safety or drive us nuts,” Jari grunted. “Don't waste time! We should renew the Runes in the snow! The storm is effacing them!” 

They returned to work, as the insect-like ghosts were dancing around them, changing their shape, speaking and chanting in different voices and unafraid of the two furious, growling wolves. There was a little girl freezing to death and crying for help. There was the school teacher who kept Jari afraid when he was a boy. There were people violently killing each other and hideous scenes of child abuse. The bandmates did their best not to look, but they could not stop the sound. 

As long as the fire continued burning and the circle was intact, the ghosts did not dare to come close. Gradually the blizzard was winning over the two audacious but exhausted men, effacing the runes sooner that they could be renewed. Desperate, Jari drew another circle around the fire. It was smaller, and, consequently, easier to maintain. 

“How long can we hold on like that?”  
“No idea. How many tablets do we still have?”  
“Two.”  
“Keep your fingers crossed.” 

“Jari? Could you play and sing something? I will go on with the circle, but you... Just sing, please, or I will lose my fucking mind!” 

“It's insane, but in fact, there's nothing else we can do.” 

Jari drew his guitar, hit one lower string (it was out of the question to take off the gloves) and sang, his harsh vocals challenging the monotonous wail of the snowstorm. He also spotted the golden lights move and did not believe his own eyes. About twenty lights approached them, spreading panic among the evil spirits. The front man looked at his guitar: the runic inscription was glowing again. 

“Clear Vision,” he exhaled. “That means the lights are real! Someone's coming up to help...” 

The bandmates recognized the brightest light, bright red and apparently coming from a flare. The one they must had lost during the Troll attack.


	12. Garm-Rider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one knew how to evade the creature's attacks, let alone destroying it. To make the things worse, the Guardian of Helheim was not alone: he carried an armed rider on his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Image credits: Arioza

The one who chased the phantoms away with a red flare was Skadi, accompanied by no less than twenty male and female skiers: each of them was holding a burning torch. The malicious creatures burst away from them, like a stock of minnows scatter away from a shark. 

Never, never had the light look so beautiful both to Jari Maenpaa and to Jukka Koskinen. Even the most beautiful galaxies in Teemu's illustrated books about space could not outdo these golden torches that had live human hearts behind. 

“We're lucky bastards, Jari!” Jukka said, catching his friend by the shoulders. “She really made herself these bloody skis! Just think: these people are the former Trolls who nearly killed us!” 

“Hope they haven't come here to barbecue...” replied the guitarist, still on-guard. 

“Have you seen them? Have you seen them? The spirits?” - asked Skadi, sliding gracefully towards her new friends and passed the sparkling flare to a friend of hers. 

“Too clearly, dear,” Jukka answered, grabbing the girl again in his arms. 

Here came Marglyne – a mighty black-bearded man – and nearly crushed Jari in his bear hug. The guitarist only laughed: he was happy not to see the ghosts around. He even made himself forgive these people for shooting down the ravens. “The folks were under the spell,” he told himself, shaking hands with Skadi's companions. “Without them we'd have been dead by the morning or sooner.” 

“Will you teach me to scream like you do?” asked the former Troll hunter. “This was pretty damn scary!” 

“Sure!” said Jari. “But we've got some business to complete first.” 

“I suggest we should make a camp and rest until morning,” objected Jukka. “We still don't know what other bloody adventures lie ahead, and we've been traveling at a blood-sucking pace lately.” 

Jari smiled with a corner of his mouth. “You and Skadi may have the tent,” he said warmly. Then the guitarist took his sleeping bag, lay down next to his wolf and hid his face in the animal's soft fur, not caring about the smell, as they smelled pretty much the same now. Jukka's grey wolf lay next to Jari's back; so the guitarist found himself between the two giant beasts and felt incredibly warm. The only thing he was missing was the weight of Teemu's head against his shoulder. 

At dawn Skadi and her companions brought Jari and Jukka to a broad river, which was not frozen despite the weather. The water was still and pitch-black, one could not see neither its bottom nor a bridge which would lead them to another side. 

The wolves' reaction was weird. Never had Jari seen them so nervous – even when the Trolls surrounded them. With their ears low, fluffy tails between the legs, the poor creatures shivered and looked at the water in fear, as if they were not strong predators nearly the size of a horse but stray dogs, small and miserable. 

“How are we going to cross the river? Shall we build a ferry? I see no wood around...” Jukka muttered in surprise. 

Skadi gave a little confused laugh.  
“On the other bank, there is nothing you search,” the girl replied. “You'll need to plunge.”  
“Is it a joke, I hope?” 

Skadi just shrugged. Jari laid his bag down on the ice-covered stones, sat down and and dipped his hand in to the water. Though it resembled raw oil from outside, it looked normal and clear in his palm. 

“You mean Hel lives under water?” he asked Skadi. 

“Yes and no,” she gasped. “I don't know how to explain... Some folks say that to get there you need to hit the bottom. What we know for sure - she never lets people go once she gets hold of them.” 

As if in confirmation to her words, Jari's wolf raised his head to the sun and wailed, sorry to break up with his friend. The guitarist approached the giant animal and gently stroked its neck. A long rosy tongue touched his high forehead in return. 

“Normal wolves howl at the moon,” Marglyne noted.  
“These are Winter-Sun wolves,” the blond chuckled. “How long can you wait for us?”  
“Until sunset,” replied the hunter. “We've got no fire fuel to wait longer...” 

Wintersun and the mountain folk exchanged emotional farewells and thanked each other once again for the mutual salvation. Though everyone was smiling, sorrow was in the depth of their eyes. Everyone was sure that these two handsome and valiant men were going to perish for nothing. 

Kissing the last good-bye to Skadi and the wolves, the bandmates shook their overcoats off to the ground: they would only be a burden in the water. Still, Jari did not forget his magic tool: the guitar was hanging over his shoulder. 

“Jukka, do you remember what I shouted when we finally released TimeI?” Jari asked with a wink. 

“Who could ever forget it?” Jukka chuckled. The friends merged in a powerful embrace, took a run and jumped into the river with a wild scream “O-o-o-or-gi-i-i-a-a-a-a-a!!!” 

The fall... a loud splash... the next second the cold fiercely cut into their skin, paralyzing and strangling both bandmates. No doubt, they had underestimated the pain. But even now, pierced by ten thousand invisible knives, they didn't lose the grip of each other. 

“Damn, I have a spasm all over my body,” the front man hissed.  
“Just hold on, man!” Jukka replied. “One... two...” 

“The countdown that led Him to death,” Jari thought, now remembering the heart of the ice trap and the black liquid below himself. The same water – so heavy, so dense... 

“Three!” 

Pulling together all what was left of their self-control, the bandmates inhaled as much air as they could and dived. As the surface closed above their heads, they found themselves in complete darkness: the Sun and its light disappeared from their vision altogether. A darkness like this must have preceded the Big Bang... 

Being heavier, Jukka was pulling Jari down, towards what he thought to be the bottom of the river, though he saw nothing. Jari asked himself if his friend still had the right sense of direction. 

It was a nightmare – to move within a thick cold liquid without seeing anything, even your friend's face, fighting against the growing need to exhale and to inhale again. No more could Jari bear this torture. He felt a great urge to swim back to the surface at any cost and started a struggle to free himself from Jukka's hug. Feeling the undesirable resistance, the bassist caught the front man by his soft golden locks, adding more pain to his suffering. 

Seconds later, Jukka's outstretched hand emerged from the water and found itself in the air! It contradicted all the laws of physics he knew but apparently corresponded to the ones that had not yet been discovered. 

Soon both the men were greedily and heavily breathing and shouting out in the shock the dirtiest words they knew. The sky above them was dark but so rich with heavy white stars that the bandmates could see each other's faces and even objects at a distance. Calming down, they found that the pain from freezing was no more too overwhelming. 

“There was nothing like this shit in that goddamn fairy-tale,” Jukka snapped. 

“Our tale is different, cause we are not pretty little girls but a pair of old farts,” Jari said, looking around. “By the way, here's the bloody palace.” - he nodded at a vast but elegant structure that seemed composed of thousands of sharp snow-white bones, polished by the wind. “A strange idea hit me while we were sinking. I guess, our Teemu may have survived the fall if he went the same way we did. What if we could run into him?” 

“One chance in ten million,” Jukka gave a low sigh and followed the blond ashore. Once the men felt the rocks under their feet, they both were surprisingly dry, and that was definitely good. There is hardly anything worse than wearing wet clothes in the frost. Jari checked on his guitar: it still could play, but the Runes did not respond to the sound. 

“They are quite weak in the world of our own, and perhaps here they don't work at all,” Jari supposed. He fretted at the strings again, but no gleam appeared. Something else appeared instead. The friends heard a long husky roar that could not not belong to any creature they knew. 

“We'd better make them work,” Jukka gasped, preparing for battle. 

The front man drew his Elven sword and used it to make an accurate cut on the backside of his hand and applied some blood to the Runes. No effect again. The fire from the lighter did not work either. The roar sounded closer. “Man, we are fucked, “ Jukka said. “There's something like a dragon.” 

“Let's fight it then... or see how to avoid it.” 

But the creature they saw had no resemblance to a dragon. It was a monstrous wolf or dog species, a living embodiment of physical power and violence. It was nearly the same size as Jari's wolf, but it's fur was long and black, its paws were shorter and its chest was broader, and he had six eyes instead of two, burning in the dark like melted steel. It exhaled a heavy stench of death and disease, as if it was decomposing from inside. 

Both the men instinctively stepped backwards, remembering Lasswen's warning of Garm. No one knew how to evade the creature's attacks, let alone destroying it. To make the things worse, the Guardian of Helheim was not alone: he carried an armed rider on his back. It was nothing either Anne or Lasswen had told them about. 

Silently, Jari threw his hair back and drew his sword: his back rounded, his knees slightly bent, his blue eyes cold and fixed on the enemy. It strengthened confidence in Jukka: the bassist clenched his ax and took what he thought to be a combat stance. 

Spotting the men, the six-eyed predator galloped towards them, but without haste, for it was pretty confident of itself - a bloody living tank inducing fear by the very fact of its existence. The face of the knight sitting on Garm's back was hidden in the shadow, but the contrast between their slight frame and the bulky shape of the monster was striking, and their flowing raven-black hair nearly reached the waist. 

“I try to strike the beast on the head, and you get the bastard who rides it, OK?” Jukka told Jari. The front man nodded, his eyes fixed on the rider. 

Ten or even eight meters separated them when they heard a heavy splash, and another giant shape emerged from the river behind them. As white and as rapid as a thunderbolt, it dashed towards Garm and engaged itself into a fierce battle. Somehow, the white creature managed to strike the Hel's Guardian down, forcing the rider to jump off. 

“Impossible!” Jari exclaimed, recognizing his white wolf. “He mustn't be here! Jukka, help him, please!”

"Let Garm get tired first. Right now it's hard to approach them without getting crushed to the pulp,” Jukka answered, observing the battle. Intertwined, the beasts rolled on the ground at such speed that it was impossible to strike one of them without harming the other.

As the wolves rolled in the snow, growling, screeching their teeth and coloring it with each other's blood, Jari watched the rider, who initially seemed intact. The person approached, playfully swinging a narrow black sword in his hand. Their face only had one eye and was badly disfigured by some powerful smashing blow (or a fall), but Jari recognized this face as soon as it became visible in the starlight. 

“Teemu,” he groaned, observing in pain the horrible injuries of his beloved one. “I came here to bring you home. Your place is with us. With me.” 

It was hard to read anything in the mess that now was the young man's face. The leader of Wintersun was lying to himself. With wounds like this, people don't live long, let alone fighting. For several seconds, Jari stood motionless, waiting for Teemu's reaction. "Drop your sword and come into my arms. I just cannot stand this." A swift series of lunges was the Garm-rider's answer. This stormy attack might have killed any person unfamiliar with fencing, but the Elven genes, discovered in the Land Beyond, served the front man a good service. 

Jukka tore his gaze away from the violent wolf battle just to see Jari evade and block the dark warrior's blows, one sword clanking against the other. But the bassist also saw that his friend was unable to strike back. And it was not due to his lack of experience. 

  

“Teemu, but this is me!” Jari cried, driving away a new strike of his enemy with a perfect circular motion of his sword. “I don't want to harm you, love! Just stop and listen!” 

Jukka clenched his fingers around the haft of his ax and sneaked towards the fighters who were so concentrated on each other that seemed not to care about anything else. Jari seemed to be getting into the same trap that Jukka hardly avoided the night before. The lead guitarist was unable to do any harm to anything that bore resemblance to Teemu Mantysaari. Even to anything as violent as this zombie, phantom or whatever this warrior might be. 

“Love, loss and the sense of guilt! What a bitter poison for the steadiest of us!” a thought flickered inside his brain. The next moment, there were no thoughts at all, but only the pure hunting instinct. In other circumstances, it would really hard to raise a weapon against something that looked so much like his lost bandmate. But the fear to lose Jari left him no choice. Once there's no more choice, the most violent rage is born. 

As Jari and the Teemu-like being pursued their dangerous dance, Jukka was waiting for the right moment to strike. Seeing the blond lose his breath, he gave a fierce battle-cry, drawing the undead's attack to himself, and cut clean both hands that held the black sword forged of nothingness. The moment they fell to the snow, the newly-mutilated corpse disintegrated into a cloud of anthracite dust which gradually whitened as it touched the ground. 

Then he heard Jari's warning cry, plunged into the snow and rolled over his shoulder, letting Garm's heavy jaws snap the air. The next bite was about to get the bassist, but he let the beast bite into his ax instead. With a powerful jerk of its head, the creature disarmed its prey. 

Jari, one of the world's fastest guitarists, was speedy enough to dive between the two and thrust his sword deep into the Guardian's mouth. This move of his provoked a terrific outburst of energy that threw poor Jukka away like a rag doll and ran through his body like a violent wave, mercilessly penetrating every cell. When the bassist was able to raise his head, he was nearly deaf, hearing nothing but a low droning sound. The man was lying next to Jari's wolf, and the poor animal was apparently dead. 

“Fuck!” spat the bass guitarist, clenching his fists in despair. He grew to love this strong and smart animal who had overcome his primary fear to help his master in need. If only Lasswen could see that - the one who never believed this wolf would dare to enter Helheim itself! Shivering, Jukka came to the Wintersun front man sprawled in the pool of blood. Though Jari's right hand was missing, gnawed off by Garm, the blond was still breathing, his eyes attached to the shimmering stars in the deep sky. 

Jukka hastily removed his scarf to stop the blood which was melting the snow under Jari. Somehow, people manage to survive and move on with their limbs cut off. Why could not his friend stay alive? 

“My guitar... Where's it?..” asked the front man. Jukka's ears could not hear the sound, instead, he read the question by the motion of Jari's mouth. 

“Next to us. And it's intact. Don't worry, man,” replied Jukka with no voice at all, clenching tightly his friend's left hand. 

“Now it's yours... Don't lose it, please,” Jari whispered. “And I'm gonna rejoin Teemu at last. The real one.” A second passed, and the guitarist stopped breathing. 

Jukka, devastated so much he could not even weep, stayed by Jari's side until the snowflakes stopped melting on the fallen man's forehead. Then the bassist kissed his bandmate's icy hand, rose to his weary feet, took the guitar and strode to the palace of Hel.


	13. Her Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There she stood – much taller now than any mortal man or woman, her face and hair white as if made of marble. The left side of her face and body was skeletal, the eye-socket empty. The dress that she was wearing seemed woven of moonlight.

From one angle, the palace resembled an agglomeration of giant snow crystals. From another one, it looked like an intricate skeleton of some immense prehistoric radiolaria. No one could say how vast the palace was. It seemed to be have been carved for many centuries in the body of an ancient glacier. Carved not out of practical need, but out of the infinite search for perfection. In some places the ice formed a kind of finest lace: back at home one could only do a work like this with some cut-edge laser knife. To be more precise, many people would need many knives.

Jukka cautiously entered a high narrow gate, pulled off his right glove and touched the wall, the purest ice. Thousands, perhaps, millions of tons. A seemingly endless enfilade before him, lit up by white glowing cubes in the air with no living creatures around and no signs of their presence. At this moment, Wintersun's bass guitarist would even be happy to run into a Troll: the stillness of this place was hard to stand. 

The deeper he penetrated the halls of Hell, the colder it was getting. No more did Jukka have his skiing jacket on, so, his teeth were incessantly clattering, and if he had touched a wall, he would have left the skin of his palm on it. He felt like his nose was going to fall off and break into dozens of tiny pieces. Gosh, Jukka had never experienced such bitter frost before! With this kind of security, monsters like Garm seemed unnecessary. 

He still heard nothing but low droning sound coming from the gloomy depth of the palace, but as long as he strode between two rows of high slender columns, the noise was becoming louder and gradually was growing into a rattle. 

“It's not buzzing in the ears after that bloody explosion,” he understood. “I really hear this!” 

He felt a great urge to run towards the source of rattle, but the icy floor, flat and glassy like a mirror, was so slippery, that Jukka chose to slide on it the way he did in childhood. Falling down and rising again, he felt that the rattle was accompanied by vibration which ran through the air, the floor and the walls. 

“Kai!” Jukka said aloud, recognizing the familiar sensation. “Kai! Where are you, old chap?” he called once again, his eyes watery and aching. Jari's blood on the snow and the greedy abyss that had taken Teemu flashed in his brain. Jukka had no right to lose one more of his bandmates. Not the last of them... 

Jukka coughed hard: the cold was reminding of itself once again. And the sound was so fucking strange for this place, so imperfect! When the echo of his coughing faded at last and he could hear the drums clearly again, the bassist let his ears guide him through the gleaming labyrinth of empty halls, each of them decorated with a unique fractal pattern. 

“Where are you, Kai?” he cried one more time. No reply followed – just drumming at a head-spinning speed, a pure rhythm for the melody Jukka could not hear, but Jari could have surely imagined, if he had survived. Besides, both the “guitar heroes”(as Jukka sometimes called them), would've been amazed by the pitch of these halls., for it was far much better than in any concert hall in the human world.

And here both of them were – at one of the numerous bas-reliefs cut in the translucent walls. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the stage, as usual, their guitars on their right knees, strands of long hair waved by the wind. One who created this thing precisely captured the broad smiles of excitement they always exchanged during concerts.

“Don't even think, or despair will crush you dead,” Jukka told himself, exhaling warm air on his freezing hands. The columns of the last hall seemed filled with concentrated starlight. There was nothing here but enormous drum kit any drummer would sell his soul for. Behind the numerous drums and Jukka saw Kai and rushed towards the older man with a cry of joy. 

Kai was dressed in the clothes he had worn at that bloody rehearsal, and Jukka wondered how the drummer managed to survive here for such a long time. Another discovery that nearly killed the bassist was the fact that Kai would not recognize him. The drummer just stared through his bandmate, oblivious of his presence altogether, and would not stop playing. His face was still, his eyes were cold and empty. 

“Man, will you wake the fuck up? Do you hear me in the first place?..” - Jukka yelled, shuddering at his own loud and strange echo. “You need to leave is goddamn place or you will die! And me as well!” 

No reply followed. 

“Kai, what on Earth has this monster woman done?..” 

He could wait no more. He intended to go round the drum set and pull Kai from there by force. But at this very moment he heard a female voice, deep and chilly. 

“You've come to take something from me, haven't you?” 

Jukka turned around and fell on his knees, overwhelmed and panting from the tension that filled the spacious room within a second. There she stood – much taller now than any mortal man or woman, her face and hair white as if made of marble. The left side of her face and body was skeletal, the eye-socket empty. The dress that she was wearing seemed woven of moonlight. 

“Queen Hel, Lady of Snow and Sorrow,” Jukka whispered. “You've taken my brother, and I beg you to grant him freedom.”  
“I haven't seized him by force. And I'm not holding him prisoner either,” she replied calmly. “But he will not want to go with you, because now he belongs to this place.” 

“What do you mean?..” 

“His eyes and heart are lumps of ice. He won't be able to live among you. Like that, he's dangerous for you as well as for his wife and kids.” 

“A punishment too cruel for that joke of his...” Jukka said. 

“Silly human! Do you really think a petty joke may offend a goddess that much? Am I one of your crazy fangirls or what?.. I was aiming at this Jari of yours, but the bastard was moving around the stage too rapidly, leaning towards the second one every now and then...” now she looked furious and, consequently, more human.

“You missed?..” 

“Exactly.” 

Jukka gave a bitter dry laugh. 

“You wanted Jari to write music for you. And when bored, you'd make him one of your snow phantoms, right?..” he asked through his clenched teeth. 

“Right about my aim and wrong about the phantoms... I doubt he and his songs would ever bore me. Time is something different for us, my boy. But even if that happened he would definitely have a different fate... I would never do that kind of thing to someone so magnificent.” 

“I can't understand... You seem to have loved Jari so much, yet you allowed Garm get him...” 

“Everyone who attempts to enter Helheim while not being dead should fight the Guardian first. That's the Rule. If you want to know, I determined neither the choice of Garm, nor the choice of Jari who stepped between you two.” 

Jukka wiped away tears and looked straight into her one and only eye. 

“Let's return to Kai. He does not play the guitar. He's not so gorgeous at singing. But I can play this thing,” Jukka took the guitar off his shoulder. “And people say they'd like to hear more of my voice.” 

This was true. Jukka's voice was deep and beautiful, though not so strong as Jari's one. And the fans often asked the bassist to let them hear more than just back vocals. 

“So, will you accept me and let Kai go?..” 

A curious smile flickered on Hel's mouth. She obviously found self-sacrifice the most romantic and beautiful thing on the Earth. After snow and sorrow, of course. 

“I'm unable to remove the ice, Jukka. He won't be the same even if he returns. But if you succeed somehow, I'll accept your proposal.” 

Once more, Jukka gazed at the zombie-like shape raging by the drums. He hated to see his bandmate like this. If even Hel had no power to bring Kai back from the undead, it was up to the bassist to make the final step. He opened the guitar case and stepped towards his friend who carried on sending vibrations through the palace. He carefully touched the drummer's forehead, but the older man did not react. 

Once again, Jukka breathed at his hands to warm them. They were shaking. His throat was sore, his lips dry and bitten to the blood. He only could count for his own resolution. Suddenly, he felt warmth by both his sides, as if the two Wintersun guitarists were here, alive and sending forth their heat. Perhaps, it was nothing but an illusion, but now the bass guitarist was feeling much more confident and regaining spirits. He caressed the strings with the thumb and then took some chords to check the sound. 

Hel, obviously tired of Kai's incessant (though perfect) drumming and curious to hear Jukka sing, snapped her fingers, making the drumkit go to dust. For several seconds poor Kai was looking around for his precious drums and then froze peering into nothingness, as Jukka started playing the last part of his favorite song of Wintersun, guided by nothing but his own memory. More than once he had played the guitarists' parts at home, by himself, the same with the vocals. His voice, faint at first, was getting stronger with each second, though tears were streaming down his long-unshaven cheeks. The reason and the whole being of the bass guitarist were dissolving in Jari's melody. 

We are the Sons of Winter and Stars  
We ́ve come from a far beyond time  
Forever the fire burns in our hearts  
Our world shall never die  
In the arms of the wind we ride till dawn  
As the waves of the ocean grind so strong  
We wander in the stars until we ́re gone  
Our fate is sealed by eternal sun  
Until we fade away - Fate will find it ́s way  
Until we drift into the dark... 

As Jukka sang, he didn't notice the Runes carved by Jari on the guitar regain their warm sunny glow which suddenly made Kai blink. And blink once more. When Jukka passed to “The Land of Snow and Sorrow”, the drummer's skin wasn't ashen any more, and his eyes were again alive, warm and curious. 

When Jukka sang the first “Sorrow is all I feel,” he rose his eyes at Kai and met the drummers gaze, intense and surprised. The older man rose clumsily from his seat and walked to embrace his friend. 

“So, the concert's over yet?.. Seems like I've fallen asleep by the drums... But there are no drums... How much did we drink, man?” he sounded like someone woken up in the night amidst a very absorbing dream. 

“Kai?” Jukka could not believe his own ears. “Are you all right?” 

“My head is swimming, if you wanna know” Kai complained. “But your singing, I love it. You should record something by yourself, man. I don't believe Jari will get mad if you do. By the way, where is he?” 

“He and Teemu... They are gone,” Jukka exhaled, a thick lump filling his throat. 

“Of course, they are!” Kai laughed, thinking that the guitarists either got badly drunk or went to Jari's summer residence by the lake. 

Jukka didn't dare to tell him the truth. Later. Later... 

“Gosh! I don't remember the place! Are we still in St.Petersburg? And what on Earth have you done to this lady?” asked, nodding at Hel, who now looked like an ordinary Albino girl and wept bitterly, a grimace of pain on her dainty face. 

“I don't need your help, boys! For Hell's sake – get off and never return again!.. Jukka, this concerns you too! I don't like your voice at all, man, so just leave me the guitar and move your ass out of here!” 

She dropped her head into her hands and started crying aloud: this was the last thing one could expect from the goddess of winter and death, Snow Queen or Frau Holle, how the Germans used to call her in the past. Jukka carefully put the guitar on her knees in a gesture of consolation. 

“You! To the left! Don't turn anywhere!” she commanded, and these were the last words Jukka had ever heard from her. He took the drummer by the sleeve and urged him to run. The floor under their feet suddenly became rough and not slippery at all. This was just on time: the walls of the palace were already shaking – perhaps, reacting to Hel's emotion, so the bandmates had to run as fast as they could. 

“What about her?” Kai exclaimed, as the bassist was pulling him away from the hall. 

“She's using another exit, man! She'll be all right, I promise!” Jukka replied. “Just go and never look back!” 

They bolted through the gate surprisingly soon towards a fiery sunrise which cut into their eyes. Kai, who had spent so many days in the semi-darkness, hurried to hide his face. Jukka looked around but saw neither snow nor any traces of Jari's body. The remains of the faithful white wolf were not here either. The nature has never looked so sweet and peaceful to both bandmates, and it was summer again – a warm, glorious summer!


	14. Outro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, what did Jukka really mean when saying that they were gone?..

The morning air was fresh and cool, but seemed sauna-hot after the dire frost of Helheim. A choir of birds and insects filled the space around the two Wintersun survivors with calming, peaceful music, giving Jukka a great urge to stretch himself in the soft fragrant grass and sleep, sleep, sleep for several weeks. But first, the bassist wanted to make sure that Kai would obey Hel's command and never look back until they get far enough. 

The bandmates were moving southwards. Kai the drummer was still stunned by the things he had just seen. Most of all, he appreciated precision, and now his mind was desperately searching for a sane and logical explanation of all this shit. However, he didn't succeed that much. And poor Jukka struggled to find the proper words to tell him the whole incredible and heartbreaking story. So, for some time they were walking in silence, putting together all their composure for the future conversation that was going to be very, very weird. 

“Man! But you're so damn skinny! Norther-times-skinny, I would say,” Kai was the first to speak, gazing at his bandmate in awe. “I mean, it's impossible to change so much overnight!.. So, how much time has passed? This strange girl – who is she?.. She would be the most striking ghost at any Halloween party, but...” 

Jukka made a deep nervous gulp. The truth had never been so hard to tell. 

“Her name is Hel.” he said. “She froze you by mistake and brought you to her place instead of Jari. As far as I get it, she wanted to make him her pet composer, but got a pet drummer...” 

“Wait! Hel, you say? That goddess of death that haunted Jari's dreams? I remember him so distressed right before the show...” 

“Exactly. You've stayed with her for many days until we found you. Doing nothing else but drumming like a fucking robot. If only you could see yourself...” 

Anyone would think that Jukka was joking, but Kai had never seen his bandmate look so serious and sad. This gave the drummer some cold shivers of horror. Either Jukka was high or, more possibly, mad. Clinically insane (perhaps, this was the reason the poor bassist looked so worn out). So must had been Kai himself, because he also saw things just about half an hour ago. What had happened then to the guitarists? It's hardly possible they could leave their troubled friends like that, deep in the forest, with no food or water. So, what did Jukka really mean when saying that they were gone?.. 

Before Kai asked this question, the cellphone rang in his pocket, breaking Jukka's breath and pushing his pulse into a nervous gallop: how did the drummer's phone keep the juice in the middle of nowhere, at another dimension, where no gadget worked? Perhaps, all this journey was nothing but Jukka's own insane fantasy? 

It took these thoughts half a second to flash in the bassist's mind, and then Kai answered the call. 

“Teemu?..” 

“Morning, Kai! Are you all right?” asked the guitarist's voice in the mobile. 

“Fuck, yes. Except that I and Jukka got lost in the forest during the night, and now the old bean's telling some scary nonsense about Hel,” Kai said, relieved. “Guess he urgently needs strong coffee and pies. Poor devil's about to swoon.” 

“Join the club, guys! Jari and me, we are starving as well. And just fancy: we've both just seen the same nightmare. Can you imagine that - one dream for the two?! It was so damn creepy and so damn interesting, also about Hel, by the way!.. Wanna have breakfast with us right now?” 

“I'll be happy to see you, guys, but I won't join you at breakfast. I crave to meet my sons: feel like I haven't seen them for several months.” 

“No problem, Kai. So, where are you? In the forest, you say?” 

“One moment, let me see my GPS...” 

The drummer gave Teemu his and Jukka's location; the guitarist asked them to approach the highway, so that he and Jari could pick them up. The two bandmates sat down by the road, immersed in the grass and the warmth of the sun. Silently, they listened to the rare cars passing by, and Jukka was secretly wiping the corners of his eyes with his sleeve. Kai was recalling the magnificent icy halls and the white ethereal face sealed with bitterness, the image still too fresh in his mind. 

Finally, they saw Jari's car stop at the roadside. To Jukka's excitement, both guitarists emerged and rushed to greet their friends. Though weary-looking, they were safe, healthy and smiling; like never before, Jukka enjoyed the feeling of their flesh, bone and heat in his embrace. Oh, how reluctant he was to let them go, the ones he had recently thought lost forever! 

“Great work, Jukka,” Jari whispered into his ear and smiled, but his green eyes stayed serious and intense. In fact, they seemed a hundred years older than their owner, the front man of Wintersun, really was. 

“Is your hand all right?” asked the bassist and bit his lower lip at the painful memories of the last several hours. 

“Still aches a bit. Sure, it'll be OK by tomorrow. But, please, tell nobody...” replied the lead guitarist, waving his "facehugger" fingers in the air. And then raven's note sounded from inside the woods. 

“So, let's go, boys, I don't wanna eat anyone alive!” Jukka exclaimed in haste. 

The Wintersun family jumped into the car and successfully moved back to Helsinki. Sitting on a thick branch of a pine-tree, two large pitch-black birds watched them depart.


End file.
